interrogate

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UK/ɪnˈtɛɹəɡeɪt/Australia/ɪnˈteɹəɡæɪt/New Zealand/ənˈteɹəɡæɪt/Scotland/ɪnˈtɛɾəɡet/

verb

To question or quiz, especially in a thorough or aggressive manner.

“to interrogate a database”

Similar
Less commonScrabble 12Word of the Day · Mar 8, 2025

Meanings

verbinterrogate (third-person singular simple present interrogates, present participle interrogating, simple past and past participle interrogated)

present singular third person interrogates · participle present interrogating · participle past interrogated · past interrogated

  1. transitiveTo question or quiz, especially in a thorough or aggressive manner.

    The police interrogated the suspect at some length before they let him go.

  2. transitivecomputingTo query (something); to request information from (something).

    to interrogate a database

  3. literarytransitiveTo examine (something) critically.

    Griffin's approach allows her to reveal Billie Holiday's resilient strength of character and to interrogate the racism she endured, which was as tragic as her personal mistakes.

    2015, Rita Kiki Edozie, Curtis Stokes, Malcolm X's Michigan Worldview: An Exemplar for Contemporary Black Studies, Michigan State University Press
    1 more example

    Within the contemporary US context, the construct of childhood innocence is a powerful social myth that structures children’s social relations and culture and informs their rights and status in society. In this article, I interrogate the construct of childhood innocence to examine how it operates as an exclusionary form of social practice.

    2019 February 1, J. C. Garden, “Interrogating innocence: “Childhood” as exclusionary social practice”, in Childhood, volume 26, number 1, page 54

Synonyms & antonyms

verbpose a series of questions to

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latininterrogō“to inquire, interrogate”
  2. Latininterrogātus
  3. Englishinterrogate

Learned borrowing from Latin interrogātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin interrogō (“to inquire, interrogate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic حَقَّقَ مَعَ, اِسْتَجْوَبَ
  • حَقَّقَ مَعَ (ḥaqqaqa maʕa)to question or quiz
  • اِسْتَجْوَبَ (istajwaba)to question or quiz
  • اِسْتَنْطَقَ (istanṭaqa)to question or quiz
Bulgarian разпи́твам, разпи́там
  • разпи́твам (razpítvam)to question or quiz
  • разпи́там (razpítam)to question or quiz
  • запи́твам (zapítvam)to question or quiz
  • запи́там (zapítam)to question or quiz
Catalan interrogar
  • interrogarto question or quiz
Chinese Mandarin 審問 /审问, 審訊 /审讯
  • 審問 /审问 (shěnwèn)to question or quiz
  • 審訊 /审讯 (shěnxùn)to question or quiz
Czech vyslýchat
  • vyslýchatto question or quiz
Danish forhøre, afhøre
  • forhøreto question or quiz
  • afhøreto question or quiz
Dutch verhoren, ondervragen
  • verhorento question or quiz
  • ondervragento question or quiz
  • interrogerento question or quiz
Esperanto pridemandi
  • pridemandito question or quiz
Estonian üle kuulama
  • üle kuulamato question or quiz
Finnish kuulustella
  • kuulustellato question or quiz
French interroger
  • interrogerto question or quiz
German verhören, vernehmen
  • verhörento question or quiz
  • vernehmento question or quiz
Greek ανακρίνω
  • ανακρίνω (anakríno)to question or quiz
Hindi प्रश्न करना, पूछताछ करना
  • प्रश्न करना (praśna karnā)to question or quiz
  • पूछताछ करना (pūchtāch karnā)to question or quiz
Hungarian faggat, vallat
  • faggatto question or quiz
  • vallatto question or quiz
  • kikérdezto question or quiz
  • kifaggatto question or quiz
Irish ceistigh
  • ceistighto question or quiz
Italian interrogare
  • interrogareto question or quiz
Japanese 尋問する, 訊く
  • 尋問する (jinmon suru)to question or quiz
  • 訊く (kiku)to question or quiz
Korean 심문하다
  • 심문하다 (simmunhada)to question or quiz
Latin sciscitor, percontor
  • sciscitorto question or quiz
  • percontorto question or quiz
Latvian nopratināt
  • nopratinātto question or quiz
Lithuanian apklausinėti
  • apklausinėtito question or quiz
Māori uiui
  • uiuito question or quiz
Norwegian Bokmål avhøra, forhøre
  • avhørato question or quiz
  • forhøreto question or quiz
Persian بازجویی کردن, استنطاق کردن
  • بازجویی کردن (bâz-juyi kardan)to question or quiz
  • استنطاق کردن (estentâq kardan)to question or quiz
  • بازپرسی کردن (bâzporsi kardan)to question or quiz
Polish przesłuchiwać, przesłuchać
  • przesłuchiwaćto question or quiz
  • przesłuchaćto question or quiz
Portuguese interrogar, questionar
  • interrogarto question or quiz
  • questionarto question or quiz
Romanian a interoga
  • a interogato question or quiz
Russian допра́шивать, допроси́ть
  • допра́шивать (doprášivatʹ)to question or quiz
  • допроси́ть (doprosítʹ)to question or quiz
  • спра́шивать (sprášivatʹ)to question or quiz
  • спроси́ть (sprosítʹ)to question or quiz
Slovak vypočúvať
  • vypočúvaťto question or quiz
Spanish interrogar
  • interrogarto question or quiz
Swedish förhöra
  • förhörato question or quiz
Thai สอบถาม, ซักถาม
  • สอบถาม (sɔ̀ɔp-tǎam)to question or quiz
  • ซักถาม (sák-tǎam)to question or quiz
  • ไถ่ (tài)to question or quiz
  • สอบปากคำto question or quiz
Turkish sorguya çekmek, sorgulamak
  • sorguya çekmekto question or quiz
  • sorgulamakto question or quiz
  • soru sormakto question or quiz
  • isticvap etmekto question or quiz
  • istinkak etmekto question or quiz
Ukrainian допи́тувати, допита́ти
  • допи́тувати (dopýtuvaty)to question or quiz
  • допита́ти (dopytáty)to question or quiz
Vietnamese thẩm vấn, hỏi cung
  • thẩm vấnto question or quiz
  • hỏi cungto question or quiz
Cite this entry
APA

interrogate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interrogate

MLA

“interrogate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interrogate. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “interrogate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interrogate.

Source: interrogate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.