as in contradictions
someone or something with qualities or features that seem to conflict with one another
the paradox of fighting a war for peace
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Recent Examples of paradoxes
That conflict sits at the heart of one of climate's most maddening paradoxes.
—
Afdhel Aziz, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
Reflecting on these piercing paradoxes, Dusabejambo’s narrative (co-written with Delphine Agut) cannot but be shaped by them; there are no simple resolutions for a reality defined by ruptures and ragged edges.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 26 May 2026
Qualitative research enables researchers to deeply explore the tensions, ambiguities and paradoxes that characterize everyday life.
—Ankolika De, The Conversation, 19 May 2026
While Goodman’s paradoxes and fantasies posed challenges to me as her biographer, with the advent of AI slop and ChatGPT, our courtship with illusion (and possibly delusion) is here to stay.
—Literary Hub, 13 May 2026
Burke gets some heavy digs in at all the paradoxes of tradwifery.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 11 May 2026
Zermelo was pleased that his list of principles, known as ZF, appeared to cleanse the set-theoretic universe of many major paradoxes such as Russell’s.
—Quanta Magazine, 29 Apr. 2026
The only problem is, negotiating and understanding the subsequent paradoxes — which writer/director Shane Carruth made little effort to simplify — requires a PhD in high-level physics.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 17 Mar. 2026
These paradoxes have defined—or plagued—the theory since its inception more than a century ago.
—Tim Folger, Scientific American, 16 Mar. 2026
Afdhel Aziz, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
Reflecting on these piercing paradoxes, Dusabejambo’s narrative (co-written with Delphine Agut) cannot but be shaped by them; there are no simple resolutions for a reality defined by ruptures and ragged edges.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 26 May 2026
Qualitative research enables researchers to deeply explore the tensions, ambiguities and paradoxes that characterize everyday life.
—Ankolika De, The Conversation, 19 May 2026
While Goodman’s paradoxes and fantasies posed challenges to me as her biographer, with the advent of AI slop and ChatGPT, our courtship with illusion (and possibly delusion) is here to stay.
—Literary Hub, 13 May 2026
Burke gets some heavy digs in at all the paradoxes of tradwifery.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 11 May 2026
Zermelo was pleased that his list of principles, known as ZF, appeared to cleanse the set-theoretic universe of many major paradoxes such as Russell’s.
—Quanta Magazine, 29 Apr. 2026
The only problem is, negotiating and understanding the subsequent paradoxes — which writer/director Shane Carruth made little effort to simplify — requires a PhD in high-level physics.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 17 Mar. 2026
These paradoxes have defined—or plagued—the theory since its inception more than a century ago.
—Tim Folger, Scientific American, 16 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paradoxes
Noun
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Styled by Leith Clark, the Chloé fall 2026 ethereal number is a study in contradictions with its voluminous silhouette that leaves little to the imagination.—
Diana Tsui,
Footwear News,
4 June 2026
-
Questlove is too much of a humanist to soft-pedal’s Maurice White’s contradictions.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
New York — One of the biggest mysteries of the global economy is why the oil market has remained so calm during one of the greatest supply shocks in history.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
9 June 2026
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Solving the mysteries of Lewis’s art hasn’t been easy.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
8 June 2026
Noun
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Petzold marvelled at the incongruities.—
Holden Seidlitz,
New Yorker,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Ridge’s equal deftness at the high end and the low is one of many apparent incongruities that the winery has managed to balance comfortably.—
Senior Wine Critic,
San Francisco Chronicle,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Bob Gray is one of the big enigmas in the book that are intentionally put there to create tension and are never solved.—
Scott Huver,
Deadline,
26 Apr. 2026
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Toss in plenty of brutal murders, bizarre prophecies, time-bending enigmas, and haunting hallucinations — all seemingly tied to Lucy’s mysterious meetings with the Hannibal Lecter-like Gideon Shepherd (Peter Capaldi) — and this one's well worth losing six hours of sleep over.—
Matt Cabral,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The thing about anamorphic that’s so interesting to me is the relationship within the frame, especially with multiple characters or two characters, showing these parallels and dichotomies.—
Mark Hughes,
Forbes.com,
14 May 2026
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My ugliness sat in the middle of the organizing dichotomies on which society rests…threatening its collapse.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Paradoxes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paradoxes. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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