From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrhetorical questionrhetorical questionSAY/STATEa question that you ask as a way of making a statement, without expecting an answer → rhetorical
Examples from the Corpus
rhetorical question• That is not a rhetorical question.• The two extremes can be expressed in the form of two rhetorical questions.• These and other rhetorical questions are asked in a spirit of humility with no stones clutched, hidden in the hand.• A rhetorical question, but asked with deep feeling.• But rhetorical questions can be over-used, especially where answers to the questions do not follow immediately.• Consider these two rhetorical questions, from an essay on Othello: Does this tell us about Shakespeare?• His critics even smile in anticipation of a rhetorical question meeting with a devastating reply.• The rhetorical question rightly goes unanswered, and the following paragraph consigns the missio unmourned to the shades. 