INQUISITORIAL Synonyms: 25 Similar and Opposite Words

inquisitorial

adjective

as in interrogative

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Recent Examples of inquisitorial Still, the most potent answer to the inquisitorial impulses emanating from Prussian Königsberg came from the French philosopher Benjamin Constant. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 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

Savvy Mercury also makes its debut in Scorpio, trading small talk for deep and slightly interrogative conversations, because this Water sign doesn’t do surface-level.

— Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2026
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

Definition of interrogative

Adjective

If preserving those rights requires an increasingly costly and intrusive enforcement apparatus, some of that advantage is lost.

— Joao Gomes, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
Lawyers for prisoners said the state was minimizing its noncompliance, disputed its claim it had not been given enough time to comply after 14 years of litigation and said Silver had already tried less-intrusive remedies.

— Jacques Billeaud, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 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 7 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of inquisitorial

adjective

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