Meaning & use
the million dollar question
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phraseinformal
the most important question that everyone wants answered but nobody can answer yet
Grammar: Used as a singular noun phrase, often after 'that is' or 'here is'.
Patterns
- the million dollar question is ...
- that is the million dollar question
The million dollar question is whether the company will survive the winter.
Who will replace the coach? That's the million dollar question.
After months of research, the million dollar question still has no clear answer.
Common combinations
- that is the million dollar question
- Will they finish on time? That is the million dollar question.
- the million dollar question is whether
- The million dollar question is whether the new law will actually help.
- ask the million dollar question
- A reporter asked the million dollar question at the press conference.
- answer the million dollar question
- No one can answer the million dollar question right now.
Synonyms and how they differ
- the big question
- Less dramatic and more neutral; it does not suggest that the answer is extremely valuable or difficult.
- the burning question
- Focuses on the fact that people are eager and impatient to know, rather than on the importance of the answer.
Commonly confused: the million dollar question or a million dollar question?
the million dollar question vs a million dollar question
Without 'the', it can sound like a literal question worth a million dollars, as in a game show. The idiom normally uses 'the'.
Practice
Everyone wants to know if the team will win. ______ is whether the star player will be fit.
Choose one answer.
'The million dollar question' is the fixed idiom for the one important question everyone is asking. 'A million dollar question' sounds like a literal prize question, and the other two are not the standard form.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “the million dollar question”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.