moot point

Definitions

1. An issue that is subject to, or open for, discussion or debate, to which no satisfactory answer is found; originally, one to be definitively determined by an assembly of the people.
2. An issue hardly worth debating because it is no longer practically applicable.

Equivalents

Examples

“In this age of moot points—some mooter than others, others possibly a shade less moot than some—perhaps the mootest point⟳ of any is, What is happening to the drama now that July 1st is behind us? This surely is a point⟳ of which the mootness cannot escape⟳ the most ivory-domed.”

“Exactly which of the songs on Small Change⟳ originated in London is a moot point⟳.”

“It is possible that a special hawthorn grew on this hill hundreds of years ago and that it was a meeting place⟳. Hawthorns marked moots, or assemblies to decide⟳ issues of local importance and manorial courts. This one may still be a “moot point⟳” – something arguable, undecided, contested, its original function lost generations ago.”

“Until we rebuild⟳ downtown, whether we build⟳ more parking spaces is a moot point⟳.”

“Who really owned that horse is a moot point⟳ now that it has run⟳ away.”

CEFR level