at issue

Idioms  

1. In question, under discussion; also, to be decided. For example, Who will pay for the refreshments was the point at issue . [Early 1800s]

2. In conflict, in disagreement, as in Physicians are still at issue over the appropriate use of hormone therapy . This usage, from legal terminology, was defined by Sir William Blackstone ( Commentaries on the Laws of England , 1768), who said that when a point is affirmed by one side and denied by the other, “they are then said to be at issue .”

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Example Sentences

The majority didn’t explain its reasoning, but Kavanaugh wrote a separate 10-page opinion explaining why he thought the stops at issue in the case were lawful under longstanding Supreme Court precedent.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

Also at issue is the Middle Eastern money the Ellison family has been expecting to pull off Paramount’s leveraged buyout of its larger entertainment company rival.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

But there is a trade-off between the amount of money at issue here and the time and grief trying to get reimbursed could cause you.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026

“Where jurisdictional questions are at issue, the Commission has the expertise and responsibility to defend its exclusive jurisdiction over commodity derivatives,” Selig said.

From Barron's • Jan. 29, 2026

The principle at issue was straightforward: natural facts must be replicable and reproducible if they are to count as facts at all.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• debatable
• problematic
• unresolved
• unsettled