antinomy
noun
an·tin·o·my
an-ˈti-nə-mē 
plural antinomies
1
: a contradiction between two apparently equally valid principles or between inferences correctly drawn from such principles
2
: a fundamental and apparently unresolvable conflict or contradiction
antinomies of beauty and evil, freedom and slavery—
Stephen Holden
Stephen HoldenExamples of antinomy in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The antinomy produces statements that can be neither false nor true.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2024
This rules out antinomies such as the barber paradox.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2024
Unlike Hilbert’s hotel and the birthday paradox, Russell’s antinomy is not a result that merely eludes our intuition.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2024
The antinomies of male and female, and the product of their union, seem very much on his mind during this period.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2023
The most recent developments in the Russian-Ukrainian war call forth similar antinomies.
—Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 15 June 2023
The great Russian sociologist Yuri Levada theorized that antinomies—pairs of mutually exclusive beliefs—were key to understanding the Soviet totalitarian mentality.
—Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 15 June 2023
By obliterating Twitter’s attempts at resolving the irreconcilable antinomy between good and bad virality, Musk has only ensured that the Chinese government can engage in viral spam to defeat viral attempts at amplifying domestic protests of CCP’s zero-Covid biosecurity regime.
—WIRED, 1 Dec. 2022
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Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2024
This rules out antinomies such as the barber paradox.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2024
Unlike Hilbert’s hotel and the birthday paradox, Russell’s antinomy is not a result that merely eludes our intuition.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2024
The antinomies of male and female, and the product of their union, seem very much on his mind during this period.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2023
The most recent developments in the Russian-Ukrainian war call forth similar antinomies.
—Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 15 June 2023
The great Russian sociologist Yuri Levada theorized that antinomies—pairs of mutually exclusive beliefs—were key to understanding the Soviet totalitarian mentality.
—Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 15 June 2023
By obliterating Twitter’s attempts at resolving the irreconcilable antinomy between good and bad virality, Musk has only ensured that the Chinese government can engage in viral spam to defeat viral attempts at amplifying domestic protests of CCP’s zero-Covid biosecurity regime.
—WIRED, 1 Dec. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Antinomy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antinomy. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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