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paradox

3 ENTRIES FOUND:

par·a·dox

noun \ˈper-ə-ˌdäks, ˈpa-rə-\

Definition of PARADOX

1
: a tenet contrary to received opinion
2
a : a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true b : a self-contradictory statement that at first seems true c : an argument that apparently derives self-contradictory conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises
3
: one (as a person, situation, or action) having seemingly contradictory qualities or phases

Examples of PARADOX

  1. It is a paradox that computers need maintenance so often, since they are meant to save people time.
  2. As an actor, he's a paradox—he loves being in the public eye but also deeply values and protects his privacy.
  3. a novel full of paradox
  4. For the actors, the goal was a paradox: real emotion, produced on cue. —Claudia Roth Pierpont, New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2008

Origin of PARADOX

Latin paradoxum, from Greek paradoxon, from neuter of paradoxos contrary to expectation, from para- + dokein to think, seem — more at decent
First Known Use: 1540

Other Logic Terms

a posteriori, connotation, corollary, inference, mutually exclusive, postulate, syllogism

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