Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for burning question. Search instead for overwhelming question.
Synonyms

burning question

Idioms  

  1. 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.

Travelers hunt for regional souvenirs, soothe their homesickness and investigate a burning question: Is the hot dog different?

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

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

From MarketWatch • Dec. 15, 2025

This may not answer the burning question of who will follow Gustavo Dudamel.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 2, 2025

The burning question facing America is: Will the other basic drive, which Freud called Eros and Harris and Walz call joy, provide us with an alternative?

From Slate • Oct. 1, 2024

After the clock repeated, “TEN TWIN-TEE-EIGHT PEE EM,” Genie asked another burning question.

From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds

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.