Definition of Paradox

1. Noun. (logic) a statement that contradicts itself. "`I always lie' is a paradox because if it is true it must be false"

Category relationships: Logic
Generic synonyms: Contradiction, Contradiction In Terms
Derivative terms: Paradoxical

Definition of Paradox

1. n. A tenet or proposition contrary to received opinion; an assertion or sentiment seemingly contradictory, or opposed to common sense; that which in appearance or terms is absurd, but yet may be true in fact.

Definition of Paradox

1. Noun. A self-contradictory statement, which can only be true if it is false, and vice versa.(jump self-contradictory statement t u) ¹

2. Noun. A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome.(jump counterintuitive outcome u s) ¹

3. Noun. A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true.(jump apparent contradiction t) ¹

4. Noun. A person or thing having contradictory properties.(jump person or thing with contradictory properties s t) ¹

5. Noun. An unanswerable question or difficult puzzle, particularly one which leads to a deeper truth. (jump unanswerable question u s) ¹

6. Noun. (obsolete) A statement which is difficult to believe, or which goes against general belief. ¹

7. Noun. The use of counterintuitive or contradictory statements (paradoxes) in speech or writing. ¹

8. Noun. (uncountable philosophy) A state in which one is logically compelled to contradict oneself. ¹

9. Noun. (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.(jump therapy practice s) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Paradox

1. a statement seemingly contradictory or absurd yet perhaps true [n -ES]

Medical Definition of Paradox

1. That which is apparently, though not actually, inconsistent with or opposed to the known facts in any case. Origin: G. Paradoxos, incredible, beyond belief, fr. Doxa, belief Weber's paradox, if a muscle is loaded beyond its power to contract it may elongate. (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Paradox

paradisiac
paradisiacal
paradisiacally
paradisial
paradisic
paradisical
paradocrasite
paradoctor
paradoctors
paradol
parador
paradores
paradors
parados
paradoses
paradox (current term)
paradoxer
paradoxers
paradoxes
paradoxical
paradoxical contraction
paradoxical diaphragm phenomenon
paradoxical embolism
paradoxical extensor reflex
paradoxical flexor reflex
paradoxical frog
paradoxical incontinence
paradoxical movement of eyelids
paradoxical patellar reflex
paradoxical pulse

Literary usage of Paradox

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Harleian Miscellany: Or, A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and by William Oldys, John Malham (1809)
"WHEREAS I intended to shew the present state of England, ty the exposition of this paradox ; yet would I have none to think, that I intend to meddle or ..."

2. Brief Literary Criticisms by Richard Holt Hutton (1906)
"The use of paradox is to awaken people to the various unsolved difficulties and ... Thus, it is not a paradox to say, as one of the paradox Club says, ..."

3. Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind by Thomas Brown, David Welsh (1860)
"... and, as I cannot but think, necessarily, to the strange stoical paradox of the ... absurd as the paradox is, and discordant with all our moral feelings, ..."

4. Scientific Dialogues: Intended for the Instruction and Entertainment of by Jeremiah Joyce (1852)
"E. You are to explain a paradox to-day: I thought natural philosophy had excluded all paradoxes. .F. Dr. Johnson has given this definition of a paradox, ..."

5. The English Works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury by Thomas ( Hobbes (1841)
"paradox were as great an honour as the invention NO. xxi. of the needle, ... And as to this paradox in particular, I meddle not with natural actions, ..."

6. Diderot and the Encyclopædists by John Morley (1897)
"The paradox on the Player is one of the very few of Diderot's pieces of which ... In the paradox the thoughts seem to fall with rapidity and precision into ..."

7. Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind. by Thomas Brown (1826)
"It would be a paradox, only inasmuch as it might suggest to those who heard it, a meaning different from that of the definition ; and, ..."

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