Do you know what a paradox is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on paradox, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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December 24, 2021
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What is a paradox?
According to Your Dictionary, a paradox is a contradiction or self-contradictory statement. Paradoxes are used in George Orwell’s Animal Farm novel, “Holy Sonnet 11” by John Donne, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Pirates of Penzance, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. A paradox is similar to an oxymoron, except that an oxymoron is a dramatic figure of speech composed of a combination of two words that contradict each other like jumbo shrimp, while a paradox is a statement or group of sentences that contradict what we know while delivering an inherent truth despite logic. The word paradox comes from the Latin paradoxum and Greek paradoxon, from neuter of paradoxos, from para and dokein. Logicians have class examples of paradoxes like the grandfather paradox, veridical paradox, Zeno’s paradoxes, the liar’s paradox, the time-traveler paradox, Quine’s classification, the apparent paradox, and more. A witty paradox can be used to create humor or wit, show an inconsistency, and other purposes of a paradox.
Many different languages also contain words that mean paradox. You may notice that some of these translations of paradox look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of paradox is provided by Word Sense.
- Bulgarian: парадокс
- Dutch: paradox (masc.)
- Armenian: պարադոքս, հարակարծություն
- Finnish: paradoksi
- Greek: παραδοξολογία (fem.)
- German: Paradoxon (neut.), Paradox (neut.)
- Romanian: paradox (neut.)
- Turkmen: paradoks
- Catalan: paradoxa (fem.)
- Spanish: paradoja (fem.)
- Galician: paradoxo (masc.)
- Indonesian: paradoks
- Occitan: paradòxa (fem.)
- Turkish: paradoks, çelişki
- Ukrainian: парадокс
- Mandarin: 悖論, 悖论 (bèilùn), 矛盾 (máodùn)
- Slovene: paradoks (masc.)
- Latvian: paradokss (masc.)
- Cyrillic: парадокс (masc.)
- Belarusian: парадокс
- Hindi: असत्याभास
- Korean: 역설 (逆説)
- Lithuanian: paradoksas (masc.)
- Hungarian: paradoxon
- Tagalog: baligho
- Roman: paradoks (masc.)
- Russian: парадо́кс (masc.)
- Hebrew: פרדוקס
- Scottish Gaelic: paradacs (masc.), frith-chosamhlachd (fem.)
- Swedish: paradox (common)
- Esperanto: paradokso
- Polish: paradoks (masc.)
- Czech: paradox (masc.)
- French: paradoxe (masc.)
- Thai: ปฏิทรรศน์
- Italian: paradosso (masc.)
- Georgian: პარადოქსი
- Norwegian: paradoks
- Portuguese: paradoxo (masc.)
- Yiddish: פּאַראַדאָקס (masc.)
- Japanese: 逆説 (ぎゃくせつ, gyakusetsu), パラドックス (paradokkusu)
- Macedonian: парадокс
- Asturian: paradoxa (fem.)
- Latin: paradoxum (neut.)
What are examples of paradox?
Paradoxes can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of paradoxes that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at these paradox examples from Your Dictionary and Literary Devices and see how many you know!
- less is more
- “Men work together whether they work together or apart.” – Robert Frost
- the only constant is change
- “To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.” (The Importance of Being Earnest)
- Freedom is slavery.
- “Whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it” (Ghandi)
- do the thing you think you cannot do
- It’s cruel to be kind.
- “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” (The Godfather)
- the enemy of my enemy is my friend
- you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t
- “I’m My Own Grandpa” (lyrics by Ray Stevens)
- “It appears that I now have an outlaw for an in-law.” (Disney’s Robin Hood)
- living in the present for the future
- “Men work together…Whether they work together or apart” (Robert Frost)
- “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (Animal Farm by George Orwell)
- “I can’t live with or without you” (With or Without You, lyrics by U2)
- “Me, I always tell the truth. Even when I lie.” (Scarface)
- Here are the rules: Ignore all rules.
- “I can resist anything but temptation.” – Oscar Wilde
- “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once” (Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare)
- If I know one thing, it’s that I know nothing.
- “It’s weird not to be weird” (John Lennon)
- Save money by spending it.
- I’m a compulsive liar.
- “I had to come to prison to be a crook.” (The Shawshank Redemption)
- Deep down, you’re really shallow.
- The second sentence is false. The first sentence is true.
- I only message those who do not message.
- “I’m Nobody! Who are you? / Are you – Nobody – too?” (Emily Dickinson)
- “Life is a preparation for the future; and the best preparation for the future is to live as if there were none” (Albert Einstein)
- Ignorance is bliss.
- the more you give, the more you get
- impossible is not a word in my vocabulary
- the louder you are, the less they hear
What are other literary techniques and devices?
There are many different grammatical and literary techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading poetry or prose. Knowing these devices is very important because they are always used in writing or speech for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers and listeners understand the speaker or author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of literary devices from Reedsy and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.
- Tmesis
- Metaphor
- Paradox
- Colloquialism
- Hypophora
- Onomatopoeia
- Zoomorphism
- Point of view
- Allusion
- Personification
- Litotes
- Irony
- Cumulative sentence
- Tragicomedy
- In Medias Res
- Allegory
- Soliloquy
- Euphemism
- Synecdoche
- Symbolism
- Alliteration
- Malapropism
- Tautology
- Juxtaposition
- Simile
- Exposition
- Anaphora
- Frame story
- Chiasmus
- Metonymy
- Archetype
- Aphorism
- Motif
- Isocolon
- Anastrophe
- Tone
- Repetition
- Flashback
- Anthropomorphism
- Hyperbole
- Polysyndeton
- Dramatic irony
- Satire
- Imagery
- Anachronism
- Foreshadowing
Overall, the word paradox is a contradiction or self-contradictory statement.
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