paradox

See also: Paradox

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹ.əˌdɒks/
• (US)
  • (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpæɹ.əˌdɑks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛɹ.əˌdɑks/

Noun

paradox (countable and uncountable, plural paradoxes)

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.

   • 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^[1], 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 […]

2. 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.

3. 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!

4. A thing involving contradictory yet interrelated elements that exist simultaneously and persist over time.
5. 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^[2], →ISBN, page 315:

     You are a paradox of bitch and angel.

6. An unanswerable question or difficult puzzle, particularly one which leads to a deeper truth.
   • 1994, James Joseph Pirkl, Transgenerational Design‎^[3], →ISBN, page 3:

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

7. (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 [...].

8. (uncountable) The use of counterintuitive or contradictory statements (paradoxes) in speech or writing.
   • 1906, Richard Holt Hutton, Brief Literary Criticisms‎^[4], page 40:

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

9. (uncountable, philosophy) A state in which one is logically compelled to contradict oneself.
   • 1866, Edward Poste, Aristotle on Fallacies, Or, The Sophistici Elenchi‎^[5], translation of original by Aristotle, page 43:

     Thus, like modern disputants, they aimed either to confute the respondent or to land him in paradox.

10. (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^[6], →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^[7]:

    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^[8], 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
• 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
• 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
• paradox sunflower
• 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

 

Related terms

• paradoxical
• paradoxically
• paradoxician
• paradoxism
• paradoxling
• paradoxology
• paradoxy

 

Translations

apparent contradiction which is nonetheless true

• Afrikaans: paradoks
• Armenian: պարադոքս (hy) (paradokʻs), հարակարծություն (hy) (harakarcutʻyun)
• Asturian: paradoxa f
• Azerbaijani: نامعقوللق (nāmeqūlluq), paradoks
• Belarusian: парадо́кс m (paradóks)
• Bengali: হেঁয়ালি (bn) (hẽẏali)
• Bulgarian: парадо́кс (bg) m (paradóks)
• Catalan: paradoxa (ca) f, paradox m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 悖論／悖论 (zh) (bèilùn), 矛盾 (zh) (máodùn), 佯謬／佯谬 (yángmiù)

• Czech: paradox (cs) m
• Dutch: paradox (nl) m
• Esperanto: paradokso
• Finnish: paradoksi (fi)
• French: paradoxe (fr) m
• Galician: paradoxo (gl) m
• Georgian: პარადოქსი (ṗaradoksi)
• German: Paradoxon (de) n, Paradox (de) n
• Greek: παραδοξολογία (el) f (paradoxología)
• Hebrew: פרדוקס (he)
• Hindi: असत्याभास m (asatyābhās)
• Hungarian: paradoxon (hu)
• Indonesian: paradoks (id)
• Italian: paradosso (it) m
• Japanese: 逆説 (ja) (ぎゃくせつ, gyakusetsu), パラドックス (ja) (paradokkusu), 矛盾 (ja) (むじゅん, mujun)
• Kazakh: оғаштық (oğaştyq)
• Korean: 역설(逆説) (ko) (yeokseol), 패러독스 (paereodokseu)
• Latin: paradoxum n
• Latvian: paradokss m
• Lithuanian: paradoksas (lt) m
• Macedonian: парадо́кс m (paradóks)
• Norwegian: paradoks (no)
• Occitan: paradòxa f
• Polish: paradoks (pl) m
• Portuguese: paradoxo (pt) m
• Romanian: paradox (ro) n
• Russian: парадо́кс (ru) m (paradóks)
• Scottish Gaelic: paradacs m, frith-chosamhlachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: парадокс m

  Roman: paradoks (sh) m

• Slovene: paradoks m, protislovje (sl) n
• Spanish: paradoja (es) f
• Swedish: paradox (sv) c
• Tagalog: baligho
• Thai: ปฏิทรรศน์ (th)
• Turkish: paradoks (tr), çelişki (tr)
• Turkmen: paradoks
• Ukrainian: парадо́кс m (paradóks)
• Vietnamese: nghịch lý (vi)
• Yiddish: פּאַראַדאָקס m (paradoks)

in logic: a self-contradictory statement

• Afrikaans: paradoks
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 悖論／悖论 (zh) (bèilùn), 矛盾 (zh) (máodùn), 佯謬／佯谬 (yángmiù)

• Dutch: paradox (nl) m, tegenspraak (nl) f
• Finnish: paradoksi (fi)
• French: paradoxe (fr) m, antinomie (fr) f
• German: Paradoxon (de) n
• Greek: παράδοξο (el) n (parádoxo)
• Japanese: 矛盾 (ja) (mujun), パラドックス (ja) (paradokkusu)
• Kazakh: парадокс (paradoks), оғаштық (oğaştyq)
• Korean: 모순(矛盾) (ko) (mosun), 자가당착(自家撞着) (ko) (jagadangchak)
• Latvian: paradokss m
• Polish: paradoks (pl) m
• Portuguese: paradoxo (pt) m
• Scottish Gaelic: paradacs m, frith-chosamhlachd f
• Slovene: paradoks m
• Spanish: paradoja (es) f
• Swedish: paradox (sv) c
• Turkish: paradoks (tr), çelişki (tr)
• Vietnamese: nghịch lý (vi)
• Yiddish: פּאַראַדאָקס m (paradoks)

person or thing with contradictory properties

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 矛盾的人 (máodùn de rén), 矛盾的事物 (máodùn de shìwù), 矛盾的事情 (máodùn de shìqing)

• Finnish: kummajainen (fi)
• Greek: αντίφαση (el) f (antífasi)
• Japanese: パラドックス (ja) (paradokkusu)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• paradox on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Czech

Noun

paradox m inan

1. paradox

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

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^(key): /ˌpaː.raːˈdɔks/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pa‧ra‧dox

Noun

paradox m (plural paradoxen, diminutive paradoxje n)

1. 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)

1. paradoxical

Declension

Positive forms of paradox

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist paradox	sie ist paradox	es ist paradox	sie sind paradox
strong declension (without article)	nominative	paradoxer	paradoxe	paradoxes	paradoxe
	genitive	paradoxen	paradoxer	paradoxen	paradoxer
	dative	paradoxem	paradoxer	paradoxem	paradoxen
	accusative	paradoxen	paradoxe	paradoxes	paradoxe
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der paradoxe	die paradoxe	das paradoxe	die paradoxen
	genitive	des paradoxen	der paradoxen	des paradoxen	der paradoxen
	dative	dem paradoxen	der paradoxen	dem paradoxen	den paradoxen
	accusative	den paradoxen	die paradoxe	das paradoxe	die paradoxen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein paradoxer	eine paradoxe	ein paradoxes	(keine) paradoxen
	genitive	eines paradoxen	einer paradoxen	eines paradoxen	(keiner) paradoxen
	dative	einem paradoxen	einer paradoxen	einem paradoxen	(keinen) paradoxen
	accusative	einen paradoxen	eine paradoxe	ein paradoxes	(keine) paradoxen

Comparative forms of paradox

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist paradoxer	sie ist paradoxer	es ist paradoxer	sie sind paradoxer
strong declension (without article)	nominative	paradoxerer	paradoxere	paradoxeres	paradoxere
	genitive	paradoxeren	paradoxerer	paradoxeren	paradoxerer
	dative	paradoxerem	paradoxerer	paradoxerem	paradoxeren
	accusative	paradoxeren	paradoxere	paradoxeres	paradoxere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der paradoxere	die paradoxere	das paradoxere	die paradoxeren
	genitive	des paradoxeren	der paradoxeren	des paradoxeren	der paradoxeren
	dative	dem paradoxeren	der paradoxeren	dem paradoxeren	den paradoxeren
	accusative	den paradoxeren	die paradoxere	das paradoxere	die paradoxeren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein paradoxerer	eine paradoxere	ein paradoxeres	(keine) paradoxeren
	genitive	eines paradoxeren	einer paradoxeren	eines paradoxeren	(keiner) paradoxeren
	dative	einem paradoxeren	einer paradoxeren	einem paradoxeren	(keinen) paradoxeren
	accusative	einen paradoxeren	eine paradoxere	ein paradoxeres	(keine) paradoxeren

Superlative forms of paradox

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am paradoxesten	sie ist am paradoxesten	es ist am paradoxesten	sie sind am paradoxesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	paradoxester	paradoxeste	paradoxestes	paradoxeste
	genitive	paradoxesten	paradoxester	paradoxesten	paradoxester
	dative	paradoxestem	paradoxester	paradoxestem	paradoxesten
	accusative	paradoxesten	paradoxeste	paradoxestes	paradoxeste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der paradoxeste	die paradoxeste	das paradoxeste	die paradoxesten
	genitive	des paradoxesten	der paradoxesten	des paradoxesten	der paradoxesten
	dative	dem paradoxesten	der paradoxesten	dem paradoxesten	den paradoxesten
	accusative	den paradoxesten	die paradoxeste	das paradoxeste	die paradoxesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein paradoxester	eine paradoxeste	ein paradoxestes	(keine) paradoxesten
	genitive	eines paradoxesten	einer paradoxesten	eines paradoxesten	(keiner) paradoxesten
	dative	einem paradoxesten	einer paradoxesten	einem paradoxesten	(keinen) paradoxesten
	accusative	einen paradoxesten	eine paradoxeste	ein paradoxestes	(keine) paradoxesten

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^(key): [ˈpɒrɒdoks]
• Hyphenation: pa‧ra‧dox
• Rhymes: -oks

Adjective

paradox (comparative paradoxabb, superlative legparadoxabb)

1. paradoxical (seemingly contradictory but possibly true)

   Synonyms: önellentmondó, képtelen, helytelen

2. (rare) paradoxical, awkward, adverse (contrary to common perception)

   Synonyms: szokatlan, meglepő, meghökkentő, visszás, fonák

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	paradox	paradoxok
accusative	paradoxot	paradoxokat
dative	paradoxnak	paradoxoknak
instrumental	paradoxszal	paradoxokkal
causal-final	paradoxért	paradoxokért
translative	paradoxszá	paradoxokká
terminative	paradoxig	paradoxokig
essive-formal	paradoxként	paradoxokként
essive-modal	paradoxul	—
inessive	paradoxban	paradoxokban
superessive	paradoxon	paradoxokon
adessive	paradoxnál	paradoxoknál
illative	paradoxba	paradoxokba
sublative	paradoxra	paradoxokra
allative	paradoxhoz	paradoxokhoz
elative	paradoxból	paradoxokból
delative	paradoxról	paradoxokról
ablative	paradoxtól	paradoxoktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	paradoxé	paradoxoké
non-attributive possessive - plural	paradoxéi	paradoxokéi

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^(key): [paraˈdoks]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

paradox n (plural paradoxuri)

1. paradox

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	paradox	paradoxul		paradoxuri	paradoxurile
genitive-dative	paradox	paradoxului		paradoxuri	paradoxurilor
vocative	paradoxule			paradoxurilor

Derived terms

• paradoxal

Swedish

Noun

paradox c

1. a paradox

Declension

Declension of paradox

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	paradox	paradox
	definite	paradoxen	paradoxens
plural	indefinite	paradoxer	paradoxers
	definite	paradoxerna	paradoxernas

Related terms

• paradoxal
• skenparadox

References

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