paradox

[ par-uh-doks ]

noun

1. a statement that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth:

   “Less is more” is a paradox often repeated in the arts and other fields.

   It is a paradox of healthy grief that we must work at it while surrendering to it.

2. any person, thing, or situation displaying an apparently contradictory nature:

   In the media the candidate was called a paradox—an unpopular populist.

   Synonyms: riddle, anomaly, puzzle

3. a self-contradictory and false statement, especially one arising from seemingly acceptable premises and correct logical argument.
4. time paradox ( def 1 ).
5. Also called par·a·dox il·lu·sion [par, -, uh, -doks i-loo-zh, uh, n]. an optical illusion depicting an impossible object, often a two-dimensional figure that the viewer intuitively interprets as representing a three-dimensional one, but which cannot actually exist in three dimensions: brought to popular attention especially by the work of M. C. Escher.
6. Archaic. an opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted opinion.

paradox

/ ˈpærəˌdɒks /

noun

1. a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that is or may be true

   religious truths are often expressed in paradox

2. a self-contradictory proposition, such as I always tell lies
3. a person or thing exhibiting apparently contradictory characteristics
4. an opinion that conflicts with common belief

paradox

1. A statement that seems contradictory or absurd but is actually valid or true. According to one proverbial paradox, we must sometimes be cruel in order to be kind. Another form of paradox is a statement that truly is contradictory and yet follows logically from other statements that do not seem open to objection. If someone says, “I am lying,” for example, and we assume that his statement is true, it must be false. The paradox is that the statement “I am lying” is false if it is true.

Derived Forms

• ˌparaˈdoxically, adverb
• ˌparaˈdoxical, adjective

Other Words From

• par·a·dox·i·cal par·a·dox·al adjective
• par·a·dox·ol·o·gy [par-, uh, -dok-, sol, -, uh, -jee], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of paradox¹

First recorded in 1530–40; from Middle French paradoxe, from Latin paradoxum, from Greek parádoxon, noun use of neuter of parádoxos “contrary to expectation, unbelievable, beyond belief”; para- ¹( def ), orthodox ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of paradox¹

C16: from Late Latin paradoxum, from Greek paradoxos opposed to existing notions, from para- ¹+ doxa opinion

Example Sentences

The only paradox is that till 35 years ago, this view of the indigenous plant and its psychotropic by-products was not viewed as a crime.

From Quartz

So there’s another paradox there, which is that language maintains as well as creates.

From Nautilus

The modern resolution to the paradox contains some subtleties, but it does indeed mostly come down to the fact that we do not live in an endless and unchanging universe.

From Nautilus

You might think you could just posit some extra axiom, use it to prove G, and resolve the paradox.

From Quanta Magazine

My mother taught me that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and this paradox has been useful while dealing with both high school and workplace politics.

From Everything After Z

But I feel like films are uniquely suited towards addressing paradox, recursiveness, and worlds-within-worlds.

From The Daily Beast

To appreciate the Palmer paradox, it's important to understand that Palmer's childhood and young adulthood were dichotomous.

From The Daily Beast

“Maybe we need a new category other than theism, atheism or agnosticism that takes paradox and unknowing into account,” he writes.

From The Daily Beast

But Washington was a prisoner to its paradox of an Iraq policy.

From The Daily Beast

As a result of this paradox, the Iraq policy process ground to a halt at the very moment that ISIS was on the rise.

From The Daily Beast

It offers, to those who see it aright, the most perplexing industrial paradox ever presented in the history of mankind.

From Project Gutenberg

But in reality this paradox of value is the most fundamental proposition in economic science.

From Project Gutenberg

It was the spiritual way, whose method and secret lie in that subtle paradox: Yield to conquer.

From Project Gutenberg

But it was a strange paradox, that precisely the depth of his love for her made him willing to think of losing her.

From Project Gutenberg

But this very paradox leads to the real principle of generalization concerning the properties of numbers.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• absurdity
• ambiguity
• anomaly
• enigma
• inconsistency
• mystery
• oddity