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.
Arsenal are so powerful and the only question mark around them is if they are a forward or two short.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The interrobang of the subtitle is a mashup of the question mark and the exclamation point that a New York ad man tried to popularize in the 1960s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
“I’ve been walking around with a question mark over my head,” Hopkins, 88, said during a recent interview at the Hotel Bel-Air.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
“Although we’ve moved on since that point, I think there still is a question mark in investors’ minds as to whether Masino understands the Cracker Barrel business intimately.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Each time Marie-Laure relays another rumor to her father, he repeats “Germany” with a question mark after it, as if saying it for the very first time.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
