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 gets to one of the core paradoxes of the strike.
—
Gene Maddaus, Variety, 4 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
Those paradoxes of her personality?
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 11 Dec. 2025
Yet the strategy document inadvertently illustrates the internal contradictions and the paradoxes of the world Trump wants.
—Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 8 Dec. 2025
And the most powerful constraints are often paradoxes that can’t be resolved — only engaged.
—Big Think, 27 Oct. 2025
In a hotel room, a melancholy sabra in his forties muses over the paradoxes of the historical destiny of the Jews.
—Susan Sontag, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2025
Gene Maddaus, Variety, 4 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
Those paradoxes of her personality?
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 11 Dec. 2025
Yet the strategy document inadvertently illustrates the internal contradictions and the paradoxes of the world Trump wants.
—Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 8 Dec. 2025
And the most powerful constraints are often paradoxes that can’t be resolved — only engaged.
—Big Think, 27 Oct. 2025
In a hotel room, a melancholy sabra in his forties muses over the paradoxes of the historical destiny of the Jews.
—Susan Sontag, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paradoxes
Noun
-
She’s already getting lost in the contradictions.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
6 May 2026
-
Decadence luxuriates in contradictions.—
Olivia Kan-Sperling,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
Noun
-
In this new show, unlikely friends Marsha and Wendy wrestle with the mysteries of the teenage heart (and dragons), while jumping between alchemy class, dodgeball and theater club in a melodrama about the unusual humans and mutants that attend an ailing public boarding school.—
Kevin Giraud,
Variety,
11 May 2026
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Directed by Kyle Balda, The Sheep Detectives stars Jackman as George, a shepherd who reads whodunit novels to his sheep at night, not realizing that his woolly companions actually understand the murder mysteries.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
My ugliness sat in the middle of the organizing dichotomies on which society rests…threatening its collapse.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 May 2026
-
Honestly, everything about Bob Weir was dichotomies.—
Alison Weinflash,
Rolling Stone,
18 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Paradoxes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paradoxes. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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