the Inquisition
noun
: an organization in the Roman Catholic Church in the past that was responsible for finding and punishing people who did not accept its beliefs and practices
the Spanish Inquisition
Examples of the Inquisition in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When reconstructing the Inquisition trial of a sixteenth-century northern Italian miller, historian Carlo Ginzburg encountered a line that would eventually inspire the title of his paradigm-shifting study The Cheese and the Worms.
—
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
Behind the large wooden door, its frescoed walls closed to the general public reveal details of the compound's dramatic history, including papal conclaves and the Inquisition interrogation of Galileo Galilei.
—
ABC News,
19 Mar. 2026
One night, Gala, presumed dead, returns mutilated and claims to have escaped from the Inquisition.
—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
25 June 2025
In 2016, after a reedy Canadian professor named Jordan Peterson refused to use gender-neutral pronouns, he was taken up as a folk hero, like Galileo standing firm against the Inquisition.
—
Andrew Marantz,
The New Yorker,
17 Mar. 2025
The painting features robust, muscular figures in the style of Michelangelo and references the Klan, Nazism, torture, communism, and the Inquisition, evident in such forms as a swastika, hooded figures, a cross, and a hammer and sickle.
—
News Desk,
Artforum,
3 Feb. 2025
Because church doctrine held that Earth was the center of the universe, the Inquisition compelled the astronomer Galileo to recant his belief that our planet orbits the sun.
—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Nov. 2024
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Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
Behind the large wooden door, its frescoed walls closed to the general public reveal details of the compound's dramatic history, including papal conclaves and the Inquisition interrogation of Galileo Galilei.
—
ABC News,
19 Mar. 2026
One night, Gala, presumed dead, returns mutilated and claims to have escaped from the Inquisition.
—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
25 June 2025
In 2016, after a reedy Canadian professor named Jordan Peterson refused to use gender-neutral pronouns, he was taken up as a folk hero, like Galileo standing firm against the Inquisition.
—
Andrew Marantz,
The New Yorker,
17 Mar. 2025
The painting features robust, muscular figures in the style of Michelangelo and references the Klan, Nazism, torture, communism, and the Inquisition, evident in such forms as a swastika, hooded figures, a cross, and a hammer and sickle.
—
News Desk,
Artforum,
3 Feb. 2025
Because church doctrine held that Earth was the center of the universe, the Inquisition compelled the astronomer Galileo to recant his belief that our planet orbits the sun.
—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Nov. 2024
Cite this Entry
“The Inquisition.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20Inquisition. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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