inquisitor

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: in=quis=i=tor

CIDE DICTIONARY

inquisitor, n. [L.: cf. F. inquisiteur. See Inquire.].

•  An inquisitive person; one fond of asking questions.  Feltham.  [1913 Webster]
•  One whose official duty it is to examine and inquire, as coroners, sheriffs, etc.  Mozley & W.  [1913 Webster]
•  A member of the Court of Inquisition.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

inquisitor, n.
1 an official investigator.
2 hist. an officer of the Inquisition.

Idiom

Grand Inquisitor the director of the court of Inquisition in some countries. Inquisitor General the head of the Spanish Inquisition.

Etymology

F inquisiteur f. L inquisitor -oris (as INQUIRE)

THESAURUS

inquisitor

Paul Pry, Peeping Tom, asker, busybody, catechist, cross-interrogator, cross-questioner, detective, eavesdropper, examiner, gossip, inquirer, inquisitionist, inquisitive, interlocutor, interpellator, interrogator, interrogatrix, interviewer, nosy Parker, opinion-sampler, poller, pollster, prober, pry, querier, querist, questioner, questionist, quidnunc, quizzer, rubberneck, rubbernecker, sampler, scopophiliac, secret agent, sightseer, snoop, snooper, voyeur, yenta

ROGET THESAURUS

inquisitor

Severity

N severity, strictness, harshness, rigor, stringency, austerity, inclemency, arrogance, precisianism, arbitrary power, absolutism, despotism, dictatorship, autocracy, tyranny, domineering, oppression, assumption, usurpation, inquisition, reign of terror, martial law, iron heel, iron rule, iron hand, iron sway, tight grasp, brute force, brute strength, coercion, strong hand, tight hand, hard lines, hard measure, tender mercies, sharp practice, pipe-clay, officialism, tyrant, disciplinarian, precisian, martinet, stickler, bashaw, despot, hard master, Draco, oppressor, inquisitor, extortioner, harpy, vulture, accipitres, birds of prey, raptorials, raptors, severe, strict, hard, harsh, dour, rigid, stiff, stern, rigorous, uncompromising, exacting, exigent, exigeant, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, austere, hard-headed, hard-nosed, hard-shell, relentless, Spartan, Draconian, stringent, strait-laced, searching, unsparing, iron-handed, peremptory, absolute, positive, arbitrary, imperative, coercive, tyrannical, extortionate, grinding, withering, oppressive, inquisitorial, inclement, cruel, haughty, arrogant, precisian, severely, with a high hand, with a strong hand, with a tight hand, with a heavy hand, at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet, Delirant reges plectuntur Achivi, manu forti, ogni debole ha sempre il suo tiranno.

Inquiry

N inquiry, request, search, research, quest, pursuit, examination, review, scrutiny, investigation, indagation, perquisition, perscrutation, pervestigation, inquest, inquisition, exploration, exploitation, ventilation, sifting, calculation, analysis, dissection, resolution, induction, Baconian method, strict inquiry, close inquiry, searching inquiry, exhaustive inquiry, narrow search, strict search, study, scire facias, ad referendum, trial, questioning, interrogation, interrogatory, interpellation, challenge, examination, cross-examination, catechism, feeler, Socratic method, zetetic philosophy, leading question, discussion, reconnoitering, reconnaissance, prying, espionage, espionnage, domiciliary visit, peep behind the curtain, lantern of Diogenes, question, query, problem, desideratum, point to be solved, porism, subject of inquiry, field of inquiry, subject of controversy, point in dispute, matter in dispute, moot point, issue, question at issue, bone of contention, plain question, fair question, open question, enigma, knotty point, quodlibet, threshold of an inquiry, inquirer, investigator, inquisitor, inspector, querist, examiner, catechist, scrutator scrutineer scrutinizer, analyst, quidnunc, inquiry, inquisitive, requisitive, requisitory, catechetical, inquisitorial, analytic, in search of, in quest of, on the lookout for, interrogative, zetetic, all searching, undetermined, untried, undecided, in question, in dispute, in issue, in course of inquiry, under discussion, under consideration, under investigation, sub judice, moot, proposed, doubtful, quaere?, what?, why?, wherefore?, whence?, whither?, where?, how comes it?, how happens it?, how is it?, what is the reason?, what's the matter?, nicht wahr?, what's in the wind?, what on earth?, when?, who?.