burning question

Idioms

An urgent or crucial issue under heated discussion. For example, Real estate taxes are always a burning question for the town leaders. This term has exact equivalents in French (question brûlante) and German (brennende Frage). [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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burning question

This past week’s anemic employment report rekindled a burning question for the U.S. economy: How many new jobs does it actually need?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

A burning question now is, when will the court rule?

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 15, 2025

I will leave you with the answer to a burning question I had as I reported this piece: When a shrimp is contaminated with radioactive materials, does it glow?

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2025

Everyone, from regular Koreans to world leaders, was left with the same burning question:

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2025

The burning question is: is the universe more like a giant ever-enlarging blimp, or does it pulsate, does it expand and contract?

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023