yes-no question

noun

"yes-no-question" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“yes-no question” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A question that can only be answered by yes or no and does not allow for elaboration or detail.

Corpus desk

Index EN-yes-no-question · yes-no question · English

yes-no question · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 15 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "Y" 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.

Key facts for yes-no question
PropertyValue
Headwordyes-no question
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “yes-no question” in English

yes-no questionranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

yes-no question is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A question that can only be answered by yes or no and does not allow for elaboration or detail.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for yes-no question, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is yes-no question, spelled Y-E-S---N-O- -Q-U-E-S-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A question that can only be answered by yes or no and does not allow for elaboration or detail.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how yes-no question appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. To make it clear for the jury, I will ask you a simple yes-no question. Did you enter the house on the night of the 15th?

This word in other languages

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "yes-no question"?
"yes-no question" is spelled Y-E-S---N-O- -Q-U-E-S-T-I-O-N.
What does "yes-no question" mean?
As a noun, "yes-no question" means: A question that can only be answered by yes or no and does not allow for elaboration or detail.
What language does "yes-no question" come from?
"yes-no question" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list