paradox

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++par·a·dox /ˈpærədɒks $ -dɑːks/ noun 1 [countable]STRANGE a situation that seems strange because it involves two ideas or qualities that are very different 自相矛盾（的情况） It’s a paradox that in such a rich country there can be so much poverty. 在如此富有的国家却有这么多的贫穷现象，真是矛盾。2 [countable]OPPOSITE/REVERSE a statement that seems impossible because it contains two opposing ideas that are both true 悖论，似非而是的说法 The paradox is that fishermen would catch more fish if they fished less. 悖论就是: 如果渔夫减少捕鱼，反而会打到更多的鱼。3. [uncountable]OPPOSITE/REVERSE the use of statements that are a paradox in writing or speech 悖论修辞 —paradoxical /ˌpærəˈdɒksɪkəl◂ $ -ˈdɑːk-/ adjective

Examples from the Corpus

paradox• The recent attacks, in which 17 people were killed and 28 injured, are a paradox for many.• Isn't it a paradox that the airline with the lowest fares is the one with the most customer satisfaction?• There's a paradox in the fact that although we're living longer than ever before, people are more obsessed with health issues than they ever were.• Fortunately, a way out of this apparent paradox exists.• The agony and the ecstasy of the eleventh-hour reprieve illustrated the central paradox of Calvinism.• Solving the infective dose paradox might lead to new strategies for elimination of this preventable pneumonia.• The lek paradox is thus solved at a stroke.• Being defined in terms of tension or paradox, ambiguity's potential diversity was restored to some sort of unitary wholeness.• To explain this seeming paradox, let me refer you to a drawing now found in many introductory psychology textbooks.• It is this paradox, according to Brooks, that is the main point of the poem.Origin paradox (1500-1600) Latin paradoxum, from Greek, from paradoxis “opposite to what is expected”

par·a·dox nounChineseSyllable

strange involves because Corpus situation seems that a it

paradox
par‧a‧dox /ˈpærədɒks $ -dɑːks/

noun

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: paradoxum, from Greek, from paradoxis 'opposite to what is expected'

1. [countable] a situation that seems strange because it involves two ideas or qualities that are very different:

It’s a paradox that in such a rich country there can be so much poverty.
2. [countable] a statement that seems impossible because it contains two opposing ideas that are both true:

The paradox is that fishermen would catch more fish if they fished less.
3. [uncountable] the use of statements that are a paradox in writing or speech
—paradoxical /ˌpærəˈdɒksɪkəl◂ $ -ˈdɑːk-/ adjective

para·dox

BrE

/ˈpærədɒks/

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NAmE

/ˈpærədɑːks/

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noun

[countable]

a person, thing or situation that has two opposite features and therefore seems strange 矛盾的人（或事物、情况）

◆He was a paradox—a loner who loved to chat to strangers. 他真是个矛盾人物，生性孤僻却又喜欢和陌生人闲聊。

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◆It is a curious paradox that professional comedians often have unhappy personal lives. 这真是个奇怪的矛盾现象：职业喜剧演员的私人生活往往并不快乐。

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[countable

, uncountable]

a statement containing two opposite ideas that make it seem impossible or unlikely, although it is probably true; the use of this in writing 似非而是的隽语；悖论；悖论修辞