interrogate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
interrogates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
interrogated,
past participle, past
-
interrogating
present participle
-
to ask questions of (a person), sometimes to seek answers or information that the person questioned considers personal or secret.
- Synonyms:
- query
-
to examine by questions; question formally.
The police captain interrogated the suspect.
-
to analyze (an idea or belief), especially by thoroughly and dispassionately questioning its underlying assumptions.
The antiwork movement seeks to interrogate the concept of work as we know it today.
verb (used without object)
-
interrogates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
interrogated,
past participle, past
-
interrogating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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interrogeenoun
-
reinterrogateverb
-
interrogableadjective
-
uninterrogableadjective
-
uninterrogatedadjective
-
interrogatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
interrogatesimple
-
interrogatessimple
-
have interrogatedperfect
-
has interrogatedperfect
-
am interrogatingprogressive
-
are interrogatingprogressive
-
is interrogatingprogressive
-
have been interrogatingperfect progressive
-
has been interrogatingperfect progressive
Past
-
interrogatedsimple
-
had interrogatedperfect
-
was interrogatingprogressive
-
were interrogatingprogressive
-
had been interrogatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of interrogate
First recorded in 1475–85; from Latin interrogātus, past participle of interrogāre “to question, examine,” equivalent to inter- “between, among, together” + rogā(re) “to ask” + -tus past participle suffix; see inter-
Explanation
To interrogate is to ask someone a bunch of questions. Usually, it’s the police, FBI, or other law-enforcement officials who interrogate suspects, but your father-in-law may interrogate you about your career plans. Interrogate comes from the Latin prefix inter-, “between” added to the Latin verb rogare, “to ask.” To interrogate someone is not just asking a few polite questions over a cup of tea. When you interrogate someone there is usually a method to the questioning with a specific mission in mind, like determining a criminal's motive or where she stashed the loot. Your college entrance interview may feel like an interrogation, but their mission is really just to get to know you.
Vocabulary lists containing interrogate
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 1–7
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For Grilled Cheese Day, Vocab with a Twist
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Instead of "Said": Words for Asking and Offering
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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.
See Examples For:
In that scenario, the AI avatar would serve as the mayor, looking to interrogate the consultant’s recommendations, Zafar said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
"Defectors are the main source of information about the North," said Fyodor Tertitsky, lecturer at Seoul's Korea University, noting both South Korean intelligence and researchers interrogate them.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
Did ordinary people really want to interrogate Thanksgiving like this?
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
She also made Hall's family members "interested persons", meaning they would be able to interrogate evidence or witnesses at a future inquest.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
And what authority had he to interrogate him?
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
One day scholars will teach Lepore’s work alongside Arendt’s, seeing that Lepore interrogates not simply a modern moment, but traces our current machine age back to the 17th-century conceit for artifice as improvement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
In one scene she attends a party with John Maynard Keynes, and she interrogates the economist much more avidly than she does the giant blue angel who materializes in Geoffrey’s bedroom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
While reveling in the silly masquerade, “Fake It Until You Make It” interrogates the meaning of racial identity and authenticity, leaving no dogmatic position unscathed by irony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025
The U-M team sorts and interrogates recycled pacemakers, only reconditioning those that have more than four years of battery life.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2024
“How can you help it, amigo?” interrogates his tempter.
From Gaspar the Gaucho A Story of the Gran Chaco by F.C. Tilney
This was a TV personality who was very much part of my youth, but now being interrogated with his liberty on the line.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
The officers interrogated her, and many others, for several hours.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
That title refers in part to George W. Bush, but chiefly to Saddam Hussein: It was Nixon who first interrogated the notorious Iraqi leader, a slippery subject and indignant prisoner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Pujo’s counsel, Samuel Untermyer, interrogated Morgan relentlessly, forcing the banker into transparently false denials.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Unlike other defectors McMahon had interrogated, Shin was ignorant of everyday life in North Korea.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
"Ask some open questions, instead of interrogating them," he says.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
And if the conventional wisdom about a candidate is a lot friendlier on that platform than on a competitor’s, I’d spend some extra time interrogating why that might be happening.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Mr. Kendall’s biography avoids being an intrusive, interrogating look at the cartoonist and his longstanding narrative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Katie’s journey towards a fully autonomous adulthood is their way of interrogating that, making her story as central to “Rooster” as Greg’s reinvention.
From Salon ● May 11, 2026
M ., whereupon detectives, who had been strenuously but abortively interrogating the suspect, withdrew to another room, leaving the minister to consult privately with his parishioner.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
