question mark
Americannoun
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question marks
plural
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Also called interrogation point. Also called interrogation mark. a punctuation mark indicating a question: usually, as in English, the mark (?) placed after a question.
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something unanswered or unknown.
His identity is still a question mark to most of us.
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an anglewing butterfly, Polygonia interrogationis, having a silver marking that resembles a question mark on the underside of each hindwing.
noun
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the punctuation mark ? , used at the end of questions and in other contexts where doubt or ignorance is implied
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this mark used for any other purpose, as to draw attention to a possible mistake, as in a chess commentary
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an element of doubt or uncertainty
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of question mark
First recorded in 1865–70
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.
The resolution to reappoint Chandrasekharan, while approved by the board, could be defeated at the company's Annual General Meeting as Tata Trusts is likely to vote against it, putting a question mark over his future.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Theo Walcott: Maresca replacing Pep is obviously a gigantic question mark, but City's squad is still absurd.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
“We knew comedically she would crush it. The only question mark was about who she was as an actress,” says Lawrence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
These screens in stasis, not airing programs but not broken, punctuate black history with a question mark, leaving us to wonder what its next chapter will be.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Like a question mark that drifted through the pages of a book and never settled at the end of a sentence.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
