a :something (such as a situation) that is made up of two opposite things and that seems impossible but is actually true or possible自相矛盾的事物
It is a paradox that computers need maintenance so often, since they are meant to save people time.电脑是用来节省人们的时间的,但它们需要经常维护,这真是自相矛盾的事。
b :someone who does two things that seem to be opposite to each other or who has qualities that are opposite自相矛盾的人
As an actor, he's a paradox—he loves being in the public eye but also deeply values and protects his privacy.作为演员,他真是个矛盾的人——他喜欢出现在公众的视线下,却又非常看重和保护自己的隐私。
2
a [count]:a statement that seems to say two opposite things but that may be true悖论
b [noncount]:the use of such statements in writing or speech悖论修辞
a novel full of paradox满是悖论修辞的小说
— paradoxical
/ˌperəˈdɑːksɪkəl/adjective[more paradoxical; most paradoxical]
the paradoxical theory that global warming will lead to the next Ice Age关于全球变暖会导致下一个冰期的悖论
The ancient Greeks were well aware that a paradox can take us outside our usual way of thinking. They combined the prefix para- ("beyond" or "outside of") with the verb dokein ("to think"), forming paradoxos, an adjective meaning "contrary to expectation." Latin speakers used that word as the basis for a noun paradoxum, which English speakers borrowed during the 1500s to create paradox.
For the actors, the goal was a paradox: real emotion, produced on cue. Claudia Roth Pierpont, New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2008Again and again, he returns in his writing to the paradox of a woman who is superior to the men around her by virtue of social class though considered inferior to them on account of her gender. Terry Eagleton, Harper's, November 2007She was certainly far from understanding him completely; his meaning was not at all times obvious. It was hard to see what he meant for instance by speaking of his provincial side—which was exactly the side she would have taken him most to lack. Was it a harmless paradox, intended to puzzle her? or was it the last refinement of high culture? Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, 1881Mr. Guppy propounds for Mr. Smallweed's consideration the paradox that the more you drink the thirstier you are and reclines his head upon the window-sill in a state of hopeless languor. Charles Dickens, Bleak House, 1852-53 It is a paradox that computers need maintenance so often, since they are meant to save people time. As an actor, he's a paradox—he loves being in the public eye but also deeply values and protects his privacy. a novel full of paradoxSee More
Recent Examples on the WebIf so, there may be a new way to picture what happens to information about objects that fall into black holes — a long-standing mystery known as the black hole information paradox. Thomas Lewton, Quanta Magazine, 8 Sep. 2022 Instead, the paradox just prevents what actions can be conducted on a trip through time. Robert Lea, Popular Mechanics, 7 Sep. 2022 Economists are celebrating the paradox that is the good news of more people going without work. Colin Lodewick, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2022 The paradox of his blind spots remains, thrown into sharper relief by Nagorski’s work. Patrick Blanchfield, The New Republic, 1 Sep. 2022 The invisibility/hypervisibility paradox is a second experience that numerous Black professionals have described to me in climate studies over the years. Shaun Harper, Forbes, 26 Aug. 2022 The paradox of risk and reward from nuclear power has been brought to the fore by the war. Rachel Pannett, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2022 As fall looms, the U.S. is now poised to expose the fatal paradox in its vaccine-only plan. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 25 Aug. 2022 To address that paradox, some platforms are preparing to hand users more control. Katie Deighton, WSJ, 17 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Latin paradoxum, from Greek paradoxon, from neuter of paradoxos contrary to expectation, from para- + dokein to think, seem — more at decent
ADJECTIVE | VERB + PARADOX | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤apparent, seeming (especially NAmE) 明顯的/表面上的矛盾➤great極大的矛盾➤central, fundamental中心矛盾;基本悖論➤curious, interesting, strange古怪的/有趣的/奇怪的矛盾VERB + PARADOX➤create, pose, present形成/建立/構成矛盾◇The facts pose something of a paradox.這些事實有自相矛盾之處。➤address, explore處理/探索悖論➤reveal揭示矛盾➤explain, resolve, solve解釋矛盾;解決矛盾PREPOSITION➤paradox about關於⋯的矛盾◇The paradox about time is that it seems to go faster as we become older and less active.時間的矛盾之處在於,我們年紀漸長不如以前活躍的時候,它似乎走得更快了。➤paradox between⋯之間的矛盾◇the paradox between the real and the ideal現實與理想之間的矛盾➤paradox in⋯中的矛盾◇the paradox in the relationship between creativity and psychosis創造力和精神病二者關係中的矛盾➤paradox of⋯的矛盾◇The author tackles one of the deepest paradoxes of life.作者就人生中的一個最大悖論進行了探討。PHRASES➤by a curious paradox按奇怪的矛盾◇By a curious paradox, the team became less motivated the more games it won.這個隊贏的場次越多越沒有動力,真是一個奇怪的矛盾。