inquisition
9
7.9
- noun
- /ˌɪnkwɪˈzɪʃən/
- Her relentless inquisition into his past made him uncomfortable and defensive.
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Watch on YouTubeIt's a medieval apocalyptic belief system which has heretics, It has inquisitions, it has penalties.
- It's a medieval apocalyptic belief system which has heretics, It has inquisitions, it has penalties.
- And I think there's a difference between, you know, Inquiry and Inquisition.
- It's a, it's a, it's an act of, of, of inquisition.
- And because we often feel in our world that people are so disconnected, many people may feel that this kind of inquisition is how it should be.
Examples
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I'll try to keep the inquisition short.
Fiction book (1993) -
Two questions guided this exploratory inquisition into the effectiveness of this specifically designed curriculum.
Academic text (2007) -
If Mark would only ask him about himself, the inquisition could be called off.
Fiction book (1998) -
And, okay, fine, just stop with the inquisition.
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I did not wish to be a part of any such inquisition.
Academic text (1993) -
Delivering these gifts five years too late in the form of an inquisition was not helpful.
Blog text (8) -
This inquisition has been designed to implicate an innocent man!
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You know, it's pretty nervy of these publishers to put us through this inquisition.
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The inquisition should not be seen as a religious policy to affirm an orthodoxy.
Academic text (1994) -
How's the inquisition going?
Synonyms
236
5.1
A set of formal questions asked to get information during an investigation
44
2.9
Formal questioning of a person in an official or academic setting
11
6.4
Very hard questioning that tries to get information by pressure
9
9.2
Harsh or violent questioning by government officials that is like torture
Questioning someone for a long time to cause stress or force answers
Asking someone many questions to get information or make sure they understand
Antonyms
Compounds
4
8.6
A court set up by the Spanish kings to find and punish people for not following Catholic beliefs
1
8.7
A court set up by the Catholic Church in Italy in 1542 to punish people for new religious ideas
A Roman Catholic church group that judged people for wrong religious beliefs in Italy from 1542
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
inquisition = inquisit + ion
Formally related to 'inquire'/'inquiry' so learners can infer it concerns questioning, but the stronger or institutional sense ('severe, prolonged') is not fully predictable from the base.
Etymology
Inquisition comes from old Latin parts in- 'into' and quaerere 'to seek', the same root as in the English verb inquire. It originally meant 'a searching for answers', so today an inquisition is a long or severe questioning.