Difference between addressing and answering a question

Question

"To address the question",
"To answer the question".
What's the difference?

user21497 · Accepted Answer

To address a question is to deal with a question, not necessarily to answer it.

To answer a question is to provide the information requested in the question.

See this link.

People who say address the question when they mean answer the question are being pretentious.

Thomas · Answer

You can address a question without answering it. If, for example, allegations are made against a person and a central question comes up, then the person can address the question without actually answering it.

Also, if we can't answer a questions, it doesn't necessarily mean that we can't say something that might be useful about the topic in question. So we address the question.

Difference between addressing and answering a question

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