questions

The word “questions” means a party game in which players must respond only with questions, and drop out (or lose a point) if they answer with a statement instead. In plain terms, a quickfire game where every line of dialogue has to be phrased as a question.

“Questions” is pronounced KWEHST-shuhnz (/ˈkwɛst͡ʃənz/ in IPA).

Here is “questions” used in a sentence: “We played Questions in the car to kill time, and everyone lost within a minute.”

“Questions” is a noun.

“Questions” is a very common word in modern English.

Players hold a conversation in which every line must be a question. You reply to each question with another question, and the exchange continues back and forth. If you answer with a statement, hesitate too long, repeat a question, or ask something that doesn't follow, you lose the round or drop out.

One player asks, 'Are we playing?' The other replies, 'Why wouldn't we be?' — 'Do you doubt it?' — 'Should I?' Each turn stays a genuine question that responds to the last. The moment someone answers with a plain statement like 'Yes, we are,' they lose the point.

The game is best known from Tom Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, where the two characters play 'Questions' and even score it like tennis, calling faults and rallies. It also survives as a popular improv and drama warm-up, prized for sharpening quick thinking and spontaneity.