as in paradox
someone or something with qualities or features that seem to conflict with one another
she's an incongruity: an impeccably groomed woman who keeps a messy house
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Recent Examples of incongruity
Not a single critic of the book was struck by the incongruity of this failure in basic thriller plotting.
—
Literary Hub, 5 Feb. 2026
Plehn finds the bottom-quark incongruities intriguing.
—IEEE Spectrum, 3 Feb. 2026
In another show, with a lesser writer, such incongruities could be read as character inconsistencies, accidental oversights, mistakes.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 7 Jan. 2026
That creates a certain level of incongruity on those campuses.
—Dana Taylor, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incongruity
Literary Hub, 5 Feb. 2026
Plehn finds the bottom-quark incongruities intriguing.
—IEEE Spectrum, 3 Feb. 2026
In another show, with a lesser writer, such incongruities could be read as character inconsistencies, accidental oversights, mistakes.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 7 Jan. 2026
That creates a certain level of incongruity on those campuses.
—Dana Taylor, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incongruity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incongruity
paradox
Noun
-
There was a clear paradox here, in that learning the language of death increased one’s chances of survival.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 May 2026
-
But, increasingly, the coercive diplomatic tactics have not worked, and a pressure paradox has emerged.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Incongruity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incongruity. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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