interrogatory
/ˌɪntəˈɹɑɡəˌtɔɹi/
"interrogatory" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“interrogatory” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A formal question or set of questions submitted to opposing party to answer, generally governed by court rule.
Corpus desk
Index EN-interrogatory · interrogatory · English
interrogatory · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "I" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | interrogatory |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɪntəˈɹɑɡəˌtɔɹi/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “interrogatory” in English
Rare enough to double-check
interrogatory is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌɪntəˈɹɑɡəˌtɔɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for interrogatory in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Latin; equivalent to interrogate + -ory (“pertaining to”), or more distantly inter- + rogatory. The correct English form is interrogatory, spelled I-N-T-E-R-R-O-G-A-T-O-R-Y.
Definition
- 1A formal question or set of questions submitted to opposing party to answer, generally governed by court rule.
- 2A question; an interrogation.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how interrogatory appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Sidney interposed with an interrogatory concerning the legality of the evidence
Kimberling, on the advice of his lawyer Frank Kameny, refused to answer several questions put to him on the 16-question interrogatory. After strong objections, the questions in question were withdrawn.
Etymology
From Late Latin; equivalent to interrogate + -ory (“pertaining to”), or more distantly inter- + rogatory.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.