paradoxical

Rarely par·a·dox·al

[par-uh-dok-si-kuhl]

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of paradoxical¹

paradox + -ical

Example Sentences

In the end, the paradoxical title "I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki" may, in fact, be another way of saying, "I want to live."

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The second documented the paradoxical state of affairs in which America’s poor live by the countercultural values taught to them by elites, while elites abide by traditional conceptions of work and marriage.

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It’s the paradoxical sensation of cheering your beloved team as it pulls ahead of its rival, while growing increasingly worried that it might ultimately lose the match.

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This paradoxical organization emerged from the ruined cities and gas chambers of World War II with the explicit goal of making sure that no destructive conflict on that scale would ever happen again.

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It might seem paradoxical that Gilbert considers herself an environmentalist while standing in the way of what most environmentalists today see as progress.

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Related Words

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