counterintuitive

adjective coun·ter·in·tu·i·tive \ ˌkau̇n-tər-in-ˈtü-ə-tiv , -ˈtyü- \

|Updated on: 14 Jun 2018

Examples: counterintuitive in a Sentence

Definition of counterintuitive

: contrary to what one would intuitively expect

As counterintuitive as it may seem, the universe has no center, and it has no boundary.
—Jim Bell

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counterintuitively

play \ˌkau̇n-tər-in-ˈtü-ə-tiv-lē, -ˈtyü-\ adverb

See counterintuitive defined for English-language learners

Examples of counterintuitive in a Sentence

It may seem counterintuitive, but we do burn calories when we are sleeping.

Recent Examples of counterintuitive from the Web

Another Bobby credo that seems counterintuitive in today’s politics: Court the press.

— larry tye, BostonGlobe.com, "An open letter to Joe Kennedy III: Here’s how to run for president," 29 May 2018
To be fair, some of the information and actions are counterintuitive.

— marcus hayes, Philly.com, "Analytics-driven Sixers ride the numbers to NBA playoffs," 18 Apr. 2018
Unfortunately, the real solutions are complex and may even sound counterintuitive.

— refinery29.com, "How Trump's Death Penalty Policy Could Benefit Drug Dealers," 11 Mar. 2018
At first, the idea of heating up a beverage meant to cool down the drinker seems counterintuitive.

— andy staples, SI.com, "How Head Coaches Pick the Winners of Offseason Quarterback Battles," 23 Apr. 2018
In a weird and almost counterintuitive way, what Netflix is doing bears a passing resemblance to the earlier days of television, when there were a limited number of networks and all programming was meant for the whole family to enjoy.

— hank stuever, chicagotribune.com, "'Lost in Space' is adrift in that vast area between shows for kids and shows for grown-ups," 11 Apr. 2018
The solution is actually counterintuitive: harken the olden days of hi-fi and buy the components separately.

— andrew goble, GQ, "The Best Bookshelf Speakers Are Small Enough to Snuggle with Your Paperbacks and Powerful Enough to Raise the Roof," 19 Mar. 2018
Yet there is no opposite line offered in its place, no anti-aphorism that is specific, helpful, cutting, truthful or counterintuitive.

— wei-huan chen, Houston Chronicle, "A weird 'Leap' is the perfect Catastrophic play," 15 Feb. 2018
Through a series of thought experiments, Einstein demonstrated that the consequences of special relativity are often counterintuitive — even startling.

— NBC News, "What is relativity? Einstein's mind-bending theory explained," 13 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'counterintuitive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.