question mark

noun

Definition of question mark

1a : something unknown, unknowable, or uncertain

b : someone (such as an athlete) whose condition, talent, or potential for success is in doubt

2 : a mark ? used in writing and printing at the conclusion of a sentence to indicate a direct question

Examples of question mark in a Sentence

The team's pitching is a big question mark this season.

Recent Examples on the Web

As if the Seahawks didn’t already have a roomful of question marks. — Larry Stone, The Seattle Times, "Limbo dance: Seahawks can certainly do without dreaded drama of Earl Thomas holdout," 24 July 2018 Outside of Bradham there seems to be a lot of question marks. — Zach Berman, Philly.com, "Doug Pederson wants the Eagles to 'rip off the dog masks and no longer be the underdog' | Early Birds," 13 June 2018 Josh Gordon | Jarvis Landry | Corey Coleman There's some potential here but there are also question marks. — cleveland.com, "Cleveland Browns predraft depth chart: Recapping the current starters at each position," 13 Apr. 2018 The best way to sum Alabama D-line, though, is that there are some question marks regarding the group but that there's clearly a good amount of talent with players like Davis and Buggs and young guys like Ray, Williams and Mathis. — Matt Zenitz, AL.com, "Defensive line a question mark for Alabama entering spring," 13 Mar. 2018 Still, if the long-range future of Gordon Hayward is still a question mark after last year’s big free agent broke his left leg in the opening minutes of the season, Huerter could become a player Ainge trades up to draft. — Don Markus, baltimoresun.com, "With several NBA teams interested, which is the best landing spot for Maryland's Kevin Huerter?," 21 June 2018 Their playoff game that night had already been canceled, but their game on Saturday was still a question mark. — New York Times, "Santa Fe High’s Baseball Team Takes the Field, Shadowed by Tragedy," 20 May 2018 Only days to go and Kensington Palace is in crisis mode now that there's a question mark about whether Markle's father, retired Hollywood lighting director Thomas Markle, 73, will walk his daughter down the aisle in St. George's Chapel. — Maria Puente, USA TODAY, "Royal wedding drama: Meghan Markle's not alone when it comes to prenuptial stress, chaos," 16 May 2018 Four years later, though, his health is suddenly a big question mark surrounding a team that is relieved to have advanced but showed little offensive threat with him off the field. — Joel Petterson, New York Times, "Colombia Emerges From the World Cup Chaos, Booting Senegal," 29 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'question mark.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.