question mark

noun

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of question mark

1 a : 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

See question mark defined for English-language learners

See question mark defined for kids

Examples of question mark in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of question mark from the Web

Two of the season’s biggest question marks centered around Embiid’s heath and Ben Simmons ability to play point guard.

— keith pompey, Philly.com, "50 wins for Sixers; home-court advantage in NBA playoffs first round clinched," 8 Apr. 2018
For parents of the afflicted, everything is a question mark.

— robert ito, Los Angeles Magazine, "Doctors Are Becoming DNA Detectives to Diagnose Super-Rare Diseases," 4 Apr. 2018
Notice how long the 14nm process node has endured, the question marks next to the release window for 10nm chips, and the almost total absence of a future road map.

— vlad savov, The Verge, "Apple is moving on from Intel because Intel isn’t moving anywhere," 3 Apr. 2018
But other developments have raised question marks, such as unexplained dismissals in past months of the military's chief of staff and the head of the General Intelligence Directorate, Egypt's version of the CIA, who also hails from the military.

— hamza hendawi, Fox News, "Egypt election sacrifices democracy for stability," 20 Mar. 2018
Meanwhile, there’s still a big question mark over what the White House will sign on to.

— tara golshan, Vox, "Congress has 5 days to keep the government open," 19 Mar. 2018
The giant question marks and asterisks that remain, of course, are the path by which broadcasters make more regular 4K sports content available.

— sam machkovech, Ars Technica, "The Winter Olympics in 4K and HDR: A pain in many ways, but gosh, those sparkles," 15 Feb. 2018
That’s been the question mark since his amateur days.

— nick piecoro, azcentral, "Arizona Diamondbacks 2018 opening day roster and player scouting report," 26 Mar. 2018
The main question mark with this team is its pitching.

— kyle stackpole, Howard County Times, "County balance should make for unpredictable 2018 baseball season," 26 Mar. 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.

First Known Use of question mark

1862

QUESTION MARK Defined for English Language Learners

question mark

noun

Definition of question mark for English Language Learners

: the punctuation mark ? that is used after a direct question or to indicate that something (such as a birth date) is uncertain
: someone or something that causes feelings of doubt or uncertainty