burning question

Idioms

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.

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

From MarketWatch

Roz hated to interrupt the walrus, but she had a burning question.

From Literature

Margaret Atwood unpacks the essays, speeches and appreciations in her deep and deeply entertaining new nonfiction collection, ‘Burning Question.’

From Los Angeles Times

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

From Los Angeles Times

The burning question in the men's singles is an obvious one - who can stop Sinner and Spanish second seed Carlos Alcaraz carving up another Grand Slam title between them?

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023