paradox
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: human-sciences
philosophy
sciences
Etymology: From Middle French paradoxe, from Latin paradoxum, from Ancient Greek παράδοξος (parádoxos, “unexpected, strange”).
Inflected forms:
form: paradoxes
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: An apparently self-contradictory statement, which can only be true if it is false, and vice versa.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: "This sentence is false" is a paradox.
The active sense of living which we all enjoy, before reflection shatters our instinctive world for us, is self-luminous and suggests no paradoxes.
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 […]
gloss: A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.
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.
gloss: A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox.
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!
gloss: A thing involving contradictory yet interrelated elements that exist simultaneously and persist over time.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A person or thing having contradictory properties.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: He is a paradox; you would not expect him in that political party.
You are a paradox of bitch and angel.
gloss: An unanswerable question or difficult puzzle, particularly one which leads to a deeper truth.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: And only by dismantling our preconceptions of age can we be free to understand the paradox: How young are the old?
gloss: A statement which is difficult to believe, or which goes against general belief.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
examples: 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.
they contended to make that Maxim, that there is no faith to be held with Infidels, a meere and absurd Paradox [...].
gloss: The use of counterintuitive or contradictory statements (paradoxes) in speech or writing.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: The need for paradox is no doubt rooted deep in the very nature of the use we make of language.
gloss: A state in which one is logically compelled to contradict oneself.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Thus, like modern disputants, they aimed either to confute the respondent or to land him in paradox.
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Defiance-based paradox is employed so that the family will actively oppose and deliberately sabotage the prescription.
Related words: paradoxical
paradoxically
paradoxician
paradoxism
paradoxling
paradoxology
paradoxy
Derived words: counterparadox
nonparadox
paradessence
paradox acacia
paradoxist
paradoxography
paradox sunflower
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: paradoks
lang: Arabic
word: مُفَارَقَة
roman: mufāraqa
lang: Armenian
word: պարադոքս
roman: paradokʻs
lang: Armenian
word: հարակարծություն
roman: harakarcutʻyun
lang: Asturian
word: paradoxa
lang: Azerbaijani
word: نامعقوللق
roman: nāmeqūlluq
lang: Azerbaijani
word: paradoks
lang: Belarusian
word: парадо́кс
roman: paradóks
lang: Bengali
word: হেঁয়ালি
roman: hẽẏali
lang: Bulgarian
word: парадо́кс
roman: paradóks
lang: Catalan
word: paradoxa
lang: Catalan
word: paradox
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 悖論 /悖论
roman: bèilùn
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 矛盾
roman: máodùn
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 佯謬 /佯谬
roman: yángmiù
lang: Czech
word: paradox
lang: Danish
word: paradoks
lang: Dutch
word: paradox
lang: Esperanto
word: paradokso
lang: Finnish
word: paradoksi
lang: French
word: paradoxe
lang: Galician
word: paradoxo
lang: Georgian
word: პარადოქსი
roman: ṗaradoksi
lang: German
word: Paradoxon
lang: German
word: Paradox
lang: Greek
word: παραδοξολογία
roman: paradoxología
lang: Hebrew
word: פרדוקס
lang: Hindi
word: असत्याभास
roman: asatyābhās
lang: Hungarian
word: paradoxon
lang: Indonesian
word: paradoks
lang: Italian
word: paradosso
lang: Japanese
word: 逆説
roman: gyakusetsu
lang: Japanese
word: パラドックス
roman: paradokkusu
lang: Japanese
word: 矛盾
roman: mujun
lang: Kazakh
word: оғаштық
roman: oğaştyq
lang: Korean
word: 역설
roman: yeokseol
lang: Korean
word: 패러독스
roman: paereodokseu
lang: Latin
word: paradoxum
lang: Latvian
word: paradokss
lang: Lithuanian
word: paradoksas
lang: Macedonian
word: парадо́кс
roman: paradóks
lang: Norwegian
word: paradoks
lang: Occitan
word: paradòxa
lang: Polish
word: paradoks
lang: Portuguese
word: paradoxo
lang: Romanian
word: paradox
lang: Russian
word: парадо́кс
roman: paradóks
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: paradacs
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: frith-chosamhlachd
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: парадокс
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: paradoks
lang: Slovene
word: paradoks
lang: Slovene
word: protislovje
lang: Spanish
word: paradoja
lang: Swedish
word: paradox
lang: Tagalog
word: baligho
lang: Thai
word: ปฏิทรรศน์
lang: Turkish
word: paradoks
lang: Turkish
word: çelişki
lang: Turkmen
word: paradoks
lang: Ukrainian
word: парадо́кс
roman: paradóks
lang: Vietnamese
word: nghịch lý
lang: Yiddish
word: פּאַראַדאָקס
roman: paradoks