paradox

paradox — noun

1. a statement, person, or situation that combines two qualities or ideas which app

1.nounC1
Definition

a statement, person, or situation that combines two qualities or ideas which appear to clash, yet on closer thought either turns out to be true or points to a deeper truth — for example, the saying 'less is more', or a CEO who builds a calendar app while constantly running out of time.

Example

Maya pointed out the paradox that her brother spent hours on a calendar app yet was always late.

paradox + that-clause for stating a contradictory truth

Zeno's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise puzzled the philosophy class for a whole afternoon.

named famous paradoxes: Zeno's, Liar, Grandfather

Common collocations
  • an apparent paradox
  • a seeming paradox
  • resolve a paradox
  • the paradox of choice
  • a walking paradox
Synonyms
  • contradiction

    any clash of ideas; a paradox is a contradiction that still seems somehow true

  • irony

    an outcome that mocks expectation; less about logical self-contradiction

  • oxymoron

    a two-word figure of speech (bittersweet, deafening silence); much smaller in scale than a paradox

  • puzzle

    broader and more neutral; lacks the 'seemingly impossible yet true' flavour

Antonyms
  • truism

    a statement so obviously true it needs no thought — the opposite of a paradoxical claim

  • tautology

    a statement that is trivially true by repetition, with no surprising tension

Grammar Patterns

paradox + that-clause

the paradox of + noun

Usage Note

Often takes a that-clause or 'the paradox of + noun phrase' to introduce the contradictory content. Frequently appears in fixed names of famous puzzles (the Liar Paradox, Zeno's paradox, the Grandfather paradox) and in coined phrases for real-world tensions (the productivity paradox, the happiness paradox).

Common Mistakes

The story has a paradox ending.
The story has a paradoxical ending.
'paradox' is a noun; use the adjective 'paradoxical' to describe a thing.
It is a paradox between freedom and security.
It is a tension between freedom and security.' or 'There is a paradox in wanting both freedom and total security.
'paradox' takes 'of' or a that-clause, not 'between'.

Word family

  • paradoxical
    adjectiveC1
  • paradoxically
    adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe a clash between two ideas, but they sit at different scales. A 'contradiction' is the broadest: any two statements or facts that cannot both be true ('Your story contradicts hers'). A 'paradox' is a special, more interesting kind of contradiction — one that seems impossible at first but, on reflection, points to a deeper truth or unsolved puzzle (Zeno's paradox, the productivity paradox). 'Irony' lives in outcomes and tone: the fire station burned down — fate mocking expectation, with no logical self-contradiction needed. An 'oxymoron' is the smallest of the group, a two-word figure of speech that pairs opposites for effect ('bittersweet', 'deafening silence'). Quick test: 'This sentence is false' is a paradox, 'a silent shout' is an oxymoron, and a vegetarian opening a steakhouse is irony.

paradox ↗contradiction ↗irony ↗oxymoron

Common collocations

Nouns

  • the Liar Paradox
  • Zeno's paradox
  • the Grandfather paradox
  • the productivity paradox
  • the paradox of choice

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a walking paradox
  • resolve a paradox
  • pose a paradox
  • an apparent paradox

Prepositions

  • paradox of
  • paradox in
  • paradox about

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Borrowed into English in the mid-1500s from Latin 'paradoxum', itself from Greek 'paradoxon' meaning 'something contrary to expectation'. The Greek pieces are 'para-' ('beside, against') plus 'doxa' ('opinion, belief'). So a paradox is literally a claim that runs 'against received opinion' — and the modern logical sense, where a statement contradicts itself yet seems true, grew out of that older 'against common sense' meaning during the rise of formal logic and philosophy.