questioning

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noun

ques·​tion·​ing ˈkwes-chə-niŋ 

ˈkwesh-

plural questionings

: the activity or process of asking questions

Illocutionary acts … such as stating, questioning, promising, or commanding.

—Ronald Wardhaugh

… serious questionings of the relation between art and life …

—J. Dennis Huston

Her folks and very pregnant sister met us at the restaurant, and it didn't take long for me to warm up to them. After sweating through a few rounds of questioning, I felt a little more at ease …

—Cosmopolitan

The time had also passed for any further questioning about what genes were. The name of the game was DNA.

—James D. Watson et al.

often : judicial interrogation

As she continued her questioning, she found herself pounding the witness stand, her voice rising in accusation until it was a scream.

—Carol Lynn Mithers

The FBI has seized your computers and brought you in for questioning.

—Graham P. Collins

CNN made a disconcerting habit of breaking away for commercials without regard to what was happening in the court—often in the middle of a line of questioning.

—David Hiltbrand

questioning

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adjective

1

: expressing or implying a question

a questioning look

… looking at her with a questioning and rather startled gaze.

—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

2

: inclined to ask questions or seek information : inquisitive

The changes of direction are partly explained by this questioning attitude, and partly by his having written the book over twenty years.

—Sarah Bakewell

For a man with as questioning a mind as Charles Darwin's there was no danger of mental vegetation.

—Ronald W. Clark

3

: uncertain about or engaged in exploring one's own sexual or gender identity

Suburban Connecticut's first support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning youths had just begun, and Alex was proving how desperately it was needed.

—Dan Woog

Facebook provides more than 50 options beyond "male" and "female" for users to describe their gender identity, from "gender questioning" and "neither" to "androgynous."

—Chicago Tribune

questioningly adverb

I stared questioningly at Mama, not really understanding.

—Mildred D. Taylor

The bartender came over and looked questioningly at Julie. "I'll have a Scotch sour on the rocks," she said.

—Robert B. Parker

Synonyms

Adjective

• disbelieving
• distrustful
• doubting
• incredulous
• mistrustful
• negativistic
• show-me
• skeptical
• suspecting
• suspicious
• unbelieving

Examples of questioning in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The permissibility of that line of questioning remains to be seen. —Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 18 Apr. 2024

This questioning comes just months after former Harvard president Claudine Gay and former University of Pennsylvania president Elizabeth Magill went through a similar process following the breakout of the Israel-Hamas war, after which both presidents resigned. —Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 17 Apr. 2024

During his line of questioning, Prior pointed toward Cox regarding the shooting of Boudreaux and the homicide of Charles Vallow, Vallow Daybell’s fourth husband. —Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 11 Apr. 2024

Through footage of Pan’s questioning, the documentary reveals how Pan tangled herself up in a web of lies. —Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 10 Apr. 2024

The audit said the school board placed too much trust in the superintendent, Cunningham said, accepting information Pollio provided with little questioning before voting on last year's transportation plan. —Krista Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 10 Apr. 2024

To support his line of questioning, Richardson played a three-minute video to the court that showed Auerbach snapping the golf clubs of a former friend and Seven co-worker. —Hilary Whiteman, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024

On Wednesday, Rubiales was detained for questioning after arriving in Madrid from an international flight, according to Spain’s Civil Guard, in what multiple media reports suggested was part of an ongoing corruption probe relating to his tenure as RFEF president. —Thomas Schlachter, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024

While some have found meaning in their daily projects or interactions with their bosses, there’s still a larger questioning of the system at play. —Chloe Berger, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing questioning

• self-questioning