Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wife-beating question

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.32 in modern English

Syllables: wife-beat-ing ques-tion
IPA

37

Scrabble Score

19

Letters

4

Syllables

13

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A question that presupposes some controversial premise, such that it cannot be directly answered without incriminating oneself or, at least, unintentionally conceding a point; a loaded question.

Example Sentences

"Mr. [Tony] Banks: When the Leader of the House sees his right hon. friend the Prime Minister, will he ask her to come to the Dispatch Box and condemn picket line violence by the police? Mr. [John] Biffen: That is the most obvious and plain wife-beating question that I have ever heard asked."
"Amis also recounts some aggressive questions allegedly put by him to me and to James Fenton in our (James's and my) Trotskyist years, when all three of us were colleagues at the New Statesman. The questions are so plainly wife-beating questions, and the answers so clearly intended to pacify the aggressor by offering a mocking agreement [...]."

Etymology

From wife-beating + question, with reference to the oft-cited example "Have you stopped beating your wife?".

Inflected Forms

wife-beating questions (plural)

Phrases

trick question leading question

Frequently Paired Words

trick question leading question

Questions

What does wife-beating question mean?: A question that presupposes some controversial premise, such that it cannot be directly answered without incriminating oneself or, at least, unintentionally conceding a point; a loaded question.
Where does wife-beating question come from?: From wife-beating + question, with reference to the oft-cited example "Have you stopped beating your wife?".

How to pronounce wife-beating question

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