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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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
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That's a really compelling, surprising, counterintuitive thing to hear out of a dead artist, who's built a legacy, who’s built something.
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As Hood reports, the finding seems almost counterintuitive to most evolutionary strategies.
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The academic literature on capital flows emphasizes the importance of this relationship and spells out its counterintuitive and often unwelcome results.
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That more-important archaebacterial genes are found less frequently in disease might seem counterintuitive, but McInerney thinks the imbalance might exist because archaebacterial gene mutations often prevent organisms from developing at all.
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.
1955
First Known Use of counterintuitive
1955
COUNTERINTUITIVE Defined for English Language Learners
counterintuitive
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adjective
Definition of counterintuitive for English Language Learners
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: different from what you would expect : not agreeing with what seems right or natural
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