# paradox
## English
### Etymology

From Middle French paradoxe, from Latin paradoxum, from Ancient Greek παράδοξος (parádoxos, “unexpected, strange”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈpæ.ɹəˌdɒks/
* (US)
** (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA: /ˈpæɹ.əˌdɑks/
* Audio (US):(file)
** (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA: /ˈpɛɹ.əˌdɑks/

### Noun

paradox (countable and uncountable, plural paradoxes)
* An apparently self-contradictory statement, which can only be true if it is false, and vice versa.
    "This sentence is false" is a paradox.
** 1909, William James, A pluralistic universe. Hibbert lectures, page 347:The active sense of living which we all enjoy, before reflection shatters our instinctive world for us, is self-luminous and suggests no paradoxes.
** 1962, Abraham Wolf, Textbook of Logic‎, page 255:According to one version of an ancient paradox, an Athenian is supposed to say "I am a liar." It is then argued that if the statement is true, then he is telling the truth, and is therefore not a liar […]
* A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome.
    It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.
** 1983 May 21, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Radio Address:The most fundamental paradox is that if we're never to use force, we must be prepared to use it and to use it successfully.
* A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true.
    Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox.
** 1879, W. S. Gilbert, “The Pirates of Penzance”, in The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan, published 1941:How quaint the ways of Paradox! / At common sense she gaily mocks! / Though counting in the usual way years twenty-one I've been alive, / Yet reck'ning by my natal day, / Yet reck'ning by my natal day, / I am a little boy of five!
* A thing involving contradictory yet interrelated elements that exist simultaneously and persist over time.
* A person or thing having contradictory properties.
    He is a paradox; you would not expect him in that political party.
** 1999, Virginia Henley, A Year and a Day‎, →ISBN, page 315:You are a paradox of bitch and angel.
* An unanswerable question or difficult puzzle, particularly one which leads to a deeper truth.
** 1994, James Joseph Pirkl, Transgenerational Design‎, →ISBN, page 3:And only by dismantling our preconceptions of age can we be free to understand the paradox: How young are the old?
* (obsolete) A statement which is difficult to believe, or which goes against general belief.
** 1594, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act III:Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner / transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the / force of honesty can translate beauty into his / likeness: this was sometime a paradox, but now the / time gives it proof.
** 1615, Ralph Hamor, A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia, Richmond, published 1957, page 3:they contended to make that Maxim, that there is no faith to be held with Infidels, a meere and absurd Paradox [...].
* (uncountable) The use of counterintuitive or contradictory statements (paradoxes) in speech or writing.
** 1906, Richard Holt Hutton, Brief Literary Criticisms‎, page 40:The need for paradox is no doubt rooted deep in the very nature of the use we make of language.
* (uncountable, philosophy) A state in which one is logically compelled to contradict oneself.
** 1866, Edward Poste, Aristotle on Fallacies, Or, The Sophistici Elenchi‎, translation of original by Aristotle, page 43:Thus, like modern disputants, they aimed either to confute the respondent or to land him in paradox.
* (countable, uncountable, psychotherapy) The practice of giving instructions that are opposed to the therapist's actual intent, with the intention that the client will disobey or be unable to obey.
** 1988, Martin Lakin, Ethical Issues in the Psychotherapies‎, →ISBN, page 103:Defiance-based paradox is employed so that the family will actively oppose and deliberately sabotage the prescription.

#### Usage notes

* (self-contradictory statement): A statement which contradicts itself in this fashion is a paradox; two statements which contradict each other are an antinomy.
* (counterintuitive outcome): This use may be considered incorrect or inexact.
    1995 January 14, Ian Stewart, “Paradox of the Spheres”, in New Scientist‎:Banach and Tarski's theorem (commonly known as the Banach-Tarski paradox, though it is not a true paradox, being counterintuitive rather than self-contradictory) […]
    1998, Encyclopedia of Applied Physics‎, page 270:It is not a true paradox, merely highly nonintuitive behavior, if one accepts the realistic and local assumptions of EPR.
* (unanswerable question): This use may be considered incorrect or inexact.
    1917, George Crabb, “ENIGMA, PARADOX, RIDDLE”, in Crabb's English Synonymes, Centennial edition:An enigma, therefore, is not a paradox, but a paradox, not being intelligible, may seem like an enigma.

#### Synonyms

* (counterintuitive outcome): shocker (informal)
* (person or thing with contradictory properties): juxtaposition, contradiction
* (unanswerable question): puzzle, quandary, riddle, enigma, koan
* (therapy practice): reverse psychology

#### Hyponyms

* Abilene paradox
* Achilles paradox
* Allais paradox
* archer's paradox
* arrow paradox
* Arrow paradox
* Arrow's paradox
* Baker's paradox
* Banach-Tarski paradox
* barber paradox
* barn-pole paradox
* Benardete's paradox
* Berkson's paradox
* Berry paradox
* Bertrand's paradox
* Bhartrhari's paradox
* birthday paradox
* Blub paradox
* bootstrap paradox
* boy or girl paradox
* Burali-Forti paradox
* clock paradox
* Curry's paradox
* C-value paradox
* d'Alembert's paradox
* diamond-water paradox
* Easterlin paradox
* Ehrenfest paradox
* Ellsberg paradox
* envelope paradox
* Epimenides paradox
* European paradox
* exchange paradox
* Fermi paradox
* French paradox
* Galileo's paradox
* gentle murder paradox
* Gibson's paradox
* Girard's paradox
* grandfather paradox
* Grelling-Nelson paradox
* Grim Reaper paradox
* hangman paradox
* Hawking's paradox
* Hempel's paradox
* Hooper's paradox
* hydrostatic paradox
* infinite hotel paradox
* information paradox
* interesting number paradox
* Jevons paradox
* Klein paradox
* ladder paradox
* lek paradox
* Levinthal's paradox
* liar paradox
* liar's paradox
* Löb's paradox
* Loschmidt's paradox
* micro-macro paradox
* Moravec's paradox
* necktie paradox
* Newcomb's paradox
* observer's paradox
* Olbers' paradox
* paradox of fiction
* paradox of saving
* paradox of thrift
* paradox of tolerance
* Parrondo's paradox
* Pepsi paradox
* Petersburg paradox
* Peto's paradox
* potato paradox
* raven paradox
* region-beta paradox
* Richard's paradox
* Ross-Littlewood paradox
* Russell's paradox
* Sagan's paradox
* Saint Petersburg paradox
* Siegel's paradox
* Simpson's paradox
* Smale's paradox
* sorites paradox
* St. Petersburg paradox
* submarine paradox
* Supplee's paradox
* surprise test paradox
* tea leaf paradox
* Tullock paradox
* twin paradox
* twins paradox
* unexpected hanging paradox
* Weyl's paradox
* Yablo's paradox
* Zeno's paradox

#### Derived terms

* paradox acacia
* paradox sunflower

#### Related terms

* paradoxical
* paradoxically
* paradoxician
* paradoxism
* paradoxling
* paradoxology
* paradoxy

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ Smith, W. K. and Lewis, M. W. (2011). Toward a theory of paradox: A dynamic equilibrium model of organizing. Academy of Management Review, 36, pp. 381-403
* ↑ Zhang, Y., Waldman, D. A., Han, Y., and Li, X. (2015). Paradoxical leader behaviors in people management: Antecedents and consequences. Academy of Management Journal, 58, pp. 538-566

### Further reading

* paradox on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

## Czech
### Noun

paradox m inan
* paradox

#### Derived terms

* paradoxně
* paradoxní

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from French paradoxe, from Middle French paradoxe, from Latin paradoxum, from Ancient Greek παράδοξος (parádoxos, “unexpected, strange”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˌpaː.raːˈdɔks/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: pa‧ra‧dox

### Noun

paradox m (plural paradoxen, diminutive paradoxje n)
* paradox

#### Derived terms

* paradoxaal
* tweelingparadox

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: paradoks
* → Indonesian: paradoks

## German
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

paradox (strong nominative masculine singular paradoxer, comparative paradoxer, superlative am paradoxesten)
* paradoxical

#### Related terms

* Paradox
* paradoxerweise
* Paradoxie
* Paradoxon

### Further reading

* “paradox” in Duden online
* “paradox” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

## Hungarian
### Etymology

From German paradox, from Ancient Greek παράδοξος (parádoxos, “unexpected, strange”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈpɒrɒdoks]
* Hyphenation: pa‧ra‧dox
* Rhymes: -oks

### Adjective

paradox (comparative paradoxabb, superlative legparadoxabb)
* paradoxical (seemingly contradictory but possibly true)
    Synonyms: önellentmondó, képtelen, helytelen
* (rare) paradoxical, awkward, adverse (contrary to common perception)
    Synonyms: szokatlan, meglepő, meghökkentő, visszás, fonák

#### Declension
### References

* ↑ Tótfalusi, István. Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára (’A Storehouse of Foreign Words: an explanatory and etymological dictionary of foreign words’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN

### Further reading

* paradox in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin paradoxum or Ancient Greek παράδοξος (parádoxos).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [paraˈdoks]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

paradox n (plural paradoxuri)
* paradox

#### Derived terms

* paradoxal

## Swedish
### Noun

paradox c
* a paradox

#### Related terms

* paradoxal
* skenparadox

### References

* paradox in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* paradox in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* paradox in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)