German

Noun

Paradox n ‎(genitive Paradoxes, plural Paradoxe)

1. paradox

Declension

Synonyms

• Paradoxon n

English

Noun

paradox ‎(plural paradoxes)

1. A self-contradictory statement, which can only be true if it is false, and vice versa. ^{transl. usage}

   "This sentence is false" is a 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 […]

2. A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome. ^usage syn.

   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. ^transl.

   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 person or thing having contradictory properties. ^{syn. transl.}

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

   • 1999, Virginia Henley, A Year and a Day, ISBN 0440222079, page 315:

     You are a paradox of bitch and angel.

5. An unanswerable question or difficult puzzle, particularly one which leads to a deeper truth. ^usage syn.
   • 1994, James Joseph Pirkl, Transgenerational Design, ISBN 0442010656, page 3:

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

6. (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 1957, p. 3

     they contended to make that Maxim, that there is no faith to be held with Infidels, a meere and absurd Paradox [...].

7. (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.

8. (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.

9. (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. ^syn.
   • 1988, Martin Lakin, Ethical Issues in the Psychotherapies, ISBN 0195044460, page 103:

     Defiance-based paradox is employed so that the family will actively oppose and deliberately sabotage the prescription.

Usage notes

• (self-contradictory statement ^{def. transl.}): A statement which contradicts itself in this fashion is a paradox; two statements which contradict each other are an antinomy.
• (counterintuitive outcome ^def. syn.): This use may be considered incorrect or inexact.
  • 1995, January 14, “Ian Stewart”, in Paradox of the Spheres^{[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 ^def. syn.): This use may be considered incorrect or inexact.
  • 1917, George Crabb, “ENIGMA, PARADOX, RIDDLE”, in Crabb's English Synonymes, Centennial ed. edition:

    An enigma, therefore, is not a paradox, but a paradox, not being intelligible, may seem like an enigma.

Synonyms

• (counterintuitive outcome ^def. usage): shocker (informal)
• (person or thing with contradictory properties ^{def. transl.}): juxtaposition, contradiction
• (unanswerable question ^def. usage): puzzle, quandary, riddle, enigma, koan
• (therapy practice ^def.): reverse psychology

Derived terms

Translations

Czech

Noun

paradox m

1. paradox

Derived terms

• paradoxní
• paradoxně

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pa‧ra‧dox

Etymology

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

Noun

paradox m ‎(plural paradoxen, diminutive paradoxje n)

1. paradox

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

paradox

1. paradoxical

Related terms

• Paradox
• paradoxerweise
• Paradoxie
• Paradoxon

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin paradoxum, Ancient Greek παράδοξος ‎(parádoxos)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [paraˈdoks]

Noun

paradox n ‎(plural paradoxuri)

1. paradox

Declension

Derived terms

• paradoxal

Swedish

Noun

paradox c

1. paradox

Declension

Related terms

• paradoxal
• skenparadox