INQUISITORIAL Synonyms: 25 Similar and Opposite Words

inquisitorial

adjective

as in interrogative

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of inquisitorial Drawing on inquisitorial records, Ginzburg showed how power and resistance are embedded in the same documents, using small-scale cases to illuminate broader tensions between elite and popular culture, and between authority and dissent. — ABC News, 17 June 2026 Universities and research institutions face inquisitorial scrutiny. — Alejandro Reyes, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for inquisitorial

Adjective

Hockney’s paintings and drawings, as well as his later photo collages and digital works, invariably had a playful, exploratory, interrogative relationship with perspective, light, scale, framing, rendering—the basic components of picture-making.

— Mark Rozzo, Vanity Fair, 12 June 2026
That single shift, from declarative to interrogative, forces the employee to do the thinking.

— Mark Murphy, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2026

Definition of interrogative

Adjective

Dozens of media outlets, from international agencies to local TV stations to true crime podcasters, were inside the Lexington County courthouse to again chronicle every forehead rub and quizzical look from the once rich and imposing Southern lawyer.

— Jeffrey Collins, Chicago Tribune, 29 June 2026
By widening the lens, Clark is able to redirect the book’s gaze from the mother toward a quizzical, sometimes critical, but not unaffectionate portrait of two generations of political activism, with the attendant self-involvement and domestic negligence.

— James Wood, New Yorker, 4 May 2026

Definition of quizzical

Adjective

Straight Pop If there were any rules left in rap music, then the last few years of intrusive thought rap to come out of Atlanta and the larger Georgia area did away with them altogether.

— Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 17 July 2026
Over the past month, more than 900 people signed an online petition condemning the project as too big and intrusive for the nearby area.

— Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 17 July 2026

Definition of intrusive

Adjective

Ambivalent about leaving Wisconsin, Caroline is befriended by the officious Jemma James (Mary Holland), whose husband, Eli (Michael Hough), is a railroad man.

— Judy Berman, Time, 9 July 2026
The former is heralded with a blast of horns; the latter guards its inner sanctum behind Tobie Windham’s officious sentry.

— Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026

Definition of officious

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inquisitiveness

inquisitorial

in reality

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“Inquisitorial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inquisitorial. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of inquisitorial

adjective

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