paradoxical

American  

[par-uh-dok-si-kuhl] / ˌpær əˈdɒk sɪ kəl /

Rarely paradoxal

adjective

1. having the nature of a paradox; self-contradictory.

2. Medicine/Medical. not being the normal or usual kind.

   Stimulants are a paradoxical, albeit effective, medication used for certain forms of hyperactivity.

---

Other Word Forms

• nonparadoxicalness
  noun
• paradoxicality
  noun
• paradoxicalness
  noun
• nonparadoxical
  adjective
• ultraparadoxical
  adjective
• unparadoxal
  adjective
• unparadoxical
  adjective
• paradoxically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of paradoxical

paradox + -ical

Explanation

“You have to spend money to make money.” That’s a paradoxical statement used by people in business, and it seems to say two opposite things that contradict each other, but if you think about it, it’s actually kind of true. Paradoxical is an adjective that describes a paradox, something with two meanings that don’t make sense together. Its Greek roots translate to “contrary opinion,” and when two different opinions collide in one statement or action, that’s paradoxical. In Shakespeare’s play "Hamlet," Hamlet’s mother marries the man who killed Hamlet’s father, but she doesn’t know it. As Hamlet plots to kill the murderer to protect his mother, he says this paradoxical phrase: “I must be cruel to be kind.”

Example Sentences

At a time when nostalgia for the ’90s is seemingly everywhere, “My Bad” places the decade into context, including its paradoxical freedoms and oppressions, with the intimate, funny rough language of your freakiest, funnest bestie.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2026

Much of the nation is in a paradoxical state.

From Salon • May 28, 2026

Jorge Luis Borges, for instance, who began translating Kafka in 1938, was attracted to the labyrinthine nature of the stories, which, Ms. Hruska writes, combine the paradoxical qualities of “brevity and endlessness.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

"At first glance, that seems paradoxical," Gualdani said.

From Science Daily • May 10, 2026

This is a black hole, an object so paradoxical that some scientists believe that black holes can be used to travel faster than light—and backward in time.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Related Words

• adverse
• antithetical
• conflicting
• contradictory
• discordant
• hostile
• inconsistent
• inimical
• negative
• opposed
• wrongheaded