inquisitor
Americannoun
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a person who makes an inquisition.
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a questioner, especially an unduly curious or harsh one.
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a person who investigates in an official capacity.
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a member of the Inquisition.
noun
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a person who inquires, esp deeply, searchingly, or ruthlessly
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(often capital) an official of the ecclesiastical court of the Inquisition
Etymology
Origin of inquisitor
1495–1505; < Latin inquīsītor, equivalent to inquīsī-, variant stem of inquīrere to inquire + -tor -tor
Explanation
Inquisitor is what you call someone who asks questions in an aggressive way, like a prosecutor in a courtroom, or a parent who wants to know everything you did last night. This word comes from 4th century Rome, where the Church hired religious detectives, called Inquisitors, to root out people who disobeyed the Church's rules. So inquisitors have always been aggressive, even though there's nothing particularly harsh or aggressive about the Latin root quærere, which simply means "ask" or "seek."
Vocabulary lists containing inquisitor
Bless Me, Ultima
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Every Day
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A Lesson Before Dying
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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.
Why, his inquisitor demanded, had Dillon, Read taken a disproportionate share of the profit from the funds it managed for the public?
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025
When an administrator would question him, the man would say he was looking for a teacher or student to throw off the inquisitor.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2025
You tell me, her inquisitor throws back at her, and she concludes somewhat hollowly, “I don’t know.”
From Salon • Oct. 30, 2024
Justice Committee Chair Sir Bob Neill joins them as a guest inquisitor.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2023
Francis’s coat whipped out behind him in theatrical billows; he kept glancing furtively around to see if his inquisitor was anywhere nearby and from time to time he emitted a faint, self-pitying cough.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
