Learn English – Does anyone know the word for a question asked with the intent to injure or insult

single-word-requests

Does anyone know the word for a question asked with the intent to injure or insult? I know there is term for it, but I can't find it anywhere. It's driving me crazy.

Example: Are you blind, or just stupid?

Oh, and it's not rhetorical. There is a more specific term.

Edit: It's not sarcasm. There is an actual grammatical term to describe this sort of question.

Best Answer

What you're wanting here is either epiplexis:

Asking questions in order to chide, to express grief, or to inveigh. A kind of rhetorical question.

Examples

Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? —Job 3:11

or erotema:

The rhetorical question. To affirm or deny a point strongly by asking it as a question.

Generally, as Melanchthon has noted, the rhetorical question includes an emotional dimension, expressing wonder, indignation, sarcasm, etc.

Examples

Just why are you so stupid?

(Both those are from BYU's whipass Silva Rhetoricae)

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