paradox

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   in logic, a statement that contradicts itself

   'I always lie' is a paradox because if it is true it must be false.

2. 2
   noun

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

   "This sentence is false" is a paradox.

3. 3
   noun

   A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome.

   It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.

4. 4
   noun

   A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true.

   Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox.

5. 5
   noun

   A person or thing having contradictory properties.

   He is a paradox; you would not expect him in that political party.

6. 6
   noun

   An unanswerable question or difficult puzzle, particularly one which leads to a deeper truth.

   And only by dismantling our preconceptions of age can we be free to understand the paradox: How young are the old?

7. 7
   noun

   A statement which is difficult to believe, or which goes against general belief.

   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.

8. 8
   noun

   The use of counterintuitive or contradictory statements (paradoxes) in speech or writing.

   The need for paradox is no doubt rooted deep in the very nature of the use we make of language.

Etymology

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