Etymology

From Middle FrenchCategory:English terms borrowed from Middle French#PARADOXCategory:English terms derived from Middle French#PARADOX paradoxe, from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#PARADOX paradoxum, from Ancient GreekCategory:English terms derived from Ancient Greek#PARADOX παράδοξος (parádoxos, “unexpected, strange”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpæ.ɹəˌdɒks/Category:English 3-syllable words#PARADOXCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#PARADOX
• (US)
  • (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹ.əˌdɑks/Category:English 3-syllable words#PARADOXCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#PARADOX

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#PARADOX
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛɹ.əˌdɑks/Category:English 3-syllable words#PARADOXCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#PARADOX

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

paradox

Wikipedia

paradox (countable and uncountable, plural paradoxes)Category:English lemmas#PARADOXCategory:English nouns#PARADOXCategory:English uncountable nouns#PARADOXCategory:English countable nouns#PARADOXCategory:English countable nouns#PARADOXCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PARADOXCategory:Pages with entries#PARADOXCategory:Pages with 7 entries#PARADOX

1. An apparently self-contradictory statement, which can only be true if it is false, and vice versa.

   "This sentence is false" is a paradox.Category:English terms with usage examples#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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

   • 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 […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

2. A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome.

   It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.Category:English terms with usage examples#PARADOX

   • 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
3. A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true.

   Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox.Category:English terms with usage examples#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!

     Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

4. A thing involving contradictory yet interrelated elements that exist simultaneously and persist over time.^[1][2]
5. A person or thing having contradictory properties.

   He is a paradox; you would not expect him in that political party.Category:English terms with usage examples#PARADOX

   • 1999, Virginia Henley, A Year and a Day‎, →ISBN, page 315:

     You are a paradox of bitch and angel.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

6. 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?

     Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

7. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#PARADOX) 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

   • 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 [...].

     Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

8. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#PARADOX) 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

9. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#PARADOX, philosophyCategory:en:Philosophy#PARADOX) 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

10. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#PARADOX, uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#PARADOX, psychotherapyCategory:en:Psychotherapy#PARADOX) 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.

      Category:English terms with quotations#PARADOX

References

Further reading

• paradox on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈparadoks]Category:Czech terms with IPA pronunciation#PARADOX

Noun

paradox m inanCategory:Czech lemmas#PARADOXCategory:Czech nouns#PARADOXCategory:Czech terms spelled with X#PARADOXCategory:Czech entries with incorrect language header#PARADOXCategory:Czech masculine nouns#PARADOXCategory:Czech inanimate nouns#PARADOXCategory:Pages with entries#PARADOXCategory:Pages with 7 entries#PARADOX

1. paradox

Further reading

• “paradox”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “paradox”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “paradox”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Etymology

Borrowed from FrenchCategory:Dutch terms borrowed from French#PARADOXCategory:Dutch terms derived from French#PARADOX paradoxe, from Middle FrenchCategory:Dutch terms derived from Middle French#PARADOX paradoxe, from LatinCategory:Dutch terms derived from Latin#PARADOX paradoxum, from Ancient GreekCategory:Dutch terms derived from Ancient Greek#PARADOX παράδοξος (parádoxos, “unexpected, strange”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpaː.raːˈdɔks/Category:Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation#PARADOX

• Audio:

  (file)

  Category:Dutch terms with audio pronunciation#PARADOX
• Hyphenation: pa‧ra‧dox

Noun

paradox m (plural paradoxen, diminutive paradoxje n)Category:Dutch lemmas#PARADOXCategory:Dutch nouns#PARADOXCategory:Dutch nouns with plural in -en#PARADOXCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#PARADOXCategory:Dutch masculine nouns#PARADOXCategory:Pages with entries#PARADOXCategory:Pages with 7 entries#PARADOX

1. paradox

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

  Category:German terms with audio pronunciation#PARADOX

Adjective

paradox (strong nominative masculine singular paradoxer, comparative paradoxer, superlative am paradoxesten)Category:German lemmas#PARADOXCategory:German adjectives#PARADOXCategory:German entries with incorrect language header#PARADOXCategory:Pages with entries#PARADOXCategory:Pages with 7 entries#PARADOX

1. paradoxical

Further reading

• “paradox” in Duden online
• “paradox”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎ (in German)

Etymology

From GermanCategory:Hungarian terms borrowed from German#PARADOXCategory:Hungarian terms derived from German#PARADOX paradox, from Ancient GreekCategory:Hungarian terms derived from Ancient Greek#PARADOX παράδοξος (parádoxos, “unexpected, strange”).^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɒrɒdoks]Category:Hungarian terms with IPA pronunciation#PARADOX
• Hyphenation: pa‧ra‧dox
• Rhymes: -oksCategory:Rhymes:Hungarian/oks#PARADOXCategory:Rhymes:Hungarian/oks/3 syllables#PARADOX

Adjective

paradoxCategory:Hungarian lemmas#PARADOXCategory:Hungarian adjectives#PARADOXCategory:Hungarian entries with incorrect language header#PARADOXCategory:Pages with entries#PARADOXCategory:Pages with 7 entries#PARADOX (comparative paradoxabb, superlative legparadoxabb)

1. paradoxical (seemingly contradictory but possibly true)

   Synonyms: önellentmondó, képtelen, helytelen

2. (rareCategory:Hungarian terms with rare senses#PARADOX) paradoxical, awkward, adverse (contrary to common perception)

   Synonyms: szokatlan, meglepő, meghökkentő, visszás, fonák

References

Further reading

• paradox in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Etymology

Borrowed from LatinCategory:Romanian terms borrowed from Latin#PARADOXCategory:Romanian terms derived from Latin#PARADOX paradoxum or Ancient GreekCategory:Romanian terms derived from Ancient Greek#PARADOX παράδοξος (parádoxos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [paraˈdoks]Category:Romanian terms with IPA pronunciation#PARADOX

• Audio:

  (file)

  Category:Romanian terms with audio pronunciation#PARADOX

Noun

paradox n (plural paradoxuri)Category:Romanian lemmas#PARADOXCategory:Romanian nouns#PARADOXCategory:Romanian countable nouns#PARADOXCategory:Romanian entries with incorrect language header#PARADOXCategory:Romanian neuter nouns#PARADOXCategory:Pages with entries#PARADOXCategory:Pages with 7 entries#PARADOX

1. paradox

Noun

paradox cCategory:Swedish lemmas#PARADOXCategory:Swedish nouns#PARADOXCategory:Swedish entries with incorrect language header#PARADOXCategory:Swedish common-gender nouns#PARADOXCategory:Pages with entries#PARADOXCategory:Pages with 7 entries#PARADOX

1. a paradox

References

• “paradox”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “paradox”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “paradox”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)