rhetorical questionn. A question to which no answer is expected, often used for rhetorical effect.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.rhetorical question n (Rhetoric) a question to which no answer is required: used esp for dramatic effect. An example is Who knows? (with the implication Nobody knows) Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014rhetor?ical ques?tion n. a question asked solely for effect and not to elicit a reply, as ?What is so rare as a day in June?? [1835?45] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.rhetorical questionA question asked for effect, to which no answer is expected, such as ?Whatever happened to good manners?.?Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited