Meaning & use
inquisition
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An intensive, often harsh series of questions or an investigation into someone's actions or beliefs.
See it in a sentence
The interview felt more like an inquisition than a friendly conversation.
Her parents subjected her to a lengthy inquisition about where she'd been all night.
A note on using this word
Written with a capital letter, "the Inquisition" refers to the historical Catholic tribunals that persecuted heresy; lowercase "inquisition" is the general word for any harsh interrogation.
Words with a similar meaning
interrogationcross-examination
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
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