interrogative

American  

[in-tuh-rog-uh-tiv] / ˌɪn təˈrɒg ə tɪv /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or conveying a question.

2. Grammar. forming, constituting, or used in or to form a question.

   an interrogative pronoun, suffix, particle, or sentence.

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noun

• interrogatives
  plural

1. Grammar. an interrogative word, element, or construction, as who? and what?

interrogative British  

/ ˌɪntəˈrɒɡətɪv /

adjective

1. asking or having the nature of a question

2. denoting a form or construction used in asking a question

3. denoting or belonging to a class of words, such as which and whom, that are determiners, adjectives, or pronouns and serve to question which individual referent or referents are intended Compare demonstrative relative

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noun

1. an interrogative word, phrase, sentence, or construction

2. a question mark

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• uninterrogative
  adjective
• interrogatively
  adverb
• uninterrogatively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• interrogatives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of interrogative

From the Late Latin word interrogātīvus, dating back to 1510–20. See interrogate, -ive

Explanation

Interrogative describes something questioning or that asks a question — like the interrogative tone of a cop grilling a suspect. It’s likely you first met the word interrogative in elementary school along with its pals — declaratory, exclamatory, and imperative. It can be an adjective or noun, but it always has to do with questions or being questioning. An interrogative sentence is one like "What time is it?" If your voice goes up at the end of a sentence because you're seeking information, your tone is interrogative. If you keep asking question after question, you've being extremely interrogative.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

interrogative interrogatives

She includes any information-seeking act, from a verbal interrogative to the sniff one might give a carton of milk to gauge its freshness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Over the holiday season, there were online pile-ons galore, with straight women repeatedly taking gay critics of the show to task over their negative or merely interrogative opinions of the series.

From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2026

Had Cooper approached this question with the same interrogative spirit with which she approached her own narrative assumptions, the book would have felt more complete.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 14, 2020

Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., was presiding over the Senate when Schumer posed his interrogative.

From Fox News ● Sep. 26, 2020

Stanley lifted his forearm off the rock and held up an interrogative finger.

From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

Speaking in a deadpan monotone, he is prone to responding to interrogatives with a curt “affirmative” or “negative” and saying things like “normal is for normal people.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2020

Piqued by the exclusion, he circulates a public letter, in which his resentments are masked by interrogatives and faux naïveté:

From The New Yorker ● Mar. 3, 2017

Yet some grammarians will have interrogatives to agree with these "subsequents," as relatives agree with their antecedents.

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown

Armathwaite found that life bristled with interrogatives just then.

From The House 'Round the Corner by Louis Tracy

After such desultory interrogatives, without any warning, came Question 15: ‘Give the character of Prince Potemki’:— Sordidly mean, ostentatiously prodigal, filthily intemperate and affectedly refined. 

From Masques & Phases by Robert Ross