Paradoxical Meaning
/ˌpæɹəˈdɒksɪkəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjHaving self-contradictory properties.
Sentence Examples
Many paradoxes are paradoxical only because they sound strange.
As paradoxical as it may seem, defending tolerance requires to not tolerate the intolerant.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The situation is ____ because adding more workers actually slows down the project.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It seems ____ that working fewer hours can sometimes lead to greater productivity and better results.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English paradox Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ic Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al Middle English -ical English -ical English paradoxical From paradox + -ical.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It is the ambiguity of language only which can make this proposition appear either doubtful or paradoxical. When properly explained and understood, it is almost self-evident."
— 1776, Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, book II, ch 2:
"It sounds paradoxical, but I am inclined to think that the weakness and insanity of the curate warned me, braced me, and kept me a sane man."
— 1898, H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, Book 2, ch 4:
"By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect."
— 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 4, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
"It was tightly fitted with a cap of the same substance, and bore engraved figurings of an evidently decorative and possibly symbolic nature - conventional designs which seemed to follow a peculiarly alien, paradoxical, and doubtfully describable system of geometry."
— 1933, H. P. Lovecraft, Hazel Heald, Out of the Aeons:
"The new civilizationism is a paradoxical combination of “identitarian” Christianity, secularism, philo-Semitism, Islamophobia, and even some elements of liberalism such as support for gender equality and gay rights."
— 2017 December 6, Rogers Brubaker, “The New Language of European Populism”, in brubaker.scholar.ss.ucla.edu, page 2:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The situation is ____ because adding more workers actually slows down the project.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It seems ____ that working fewer hours can sometimes lead to greater productivity and better results.