paradox

noun10

1. •
   An apparently self-contradictory statement, which can only be true if it is false, and vice versa.

   • "This sentence is false" is a paradox.
2. •
   A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true.

   • Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox.
3. •
   A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome.

   • It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.
4. •
   A thing involving contradictory yet interrelated elements that exist simultaneously and persist over time.
5. •
   A person or thing having contradictory properties.

   • He is a paradox; you would not expect him in that political party.
6. •
   An unanswerable question or difficult puzzle, particularly one which leads to a deeper truth.

   • And only by dismantling our preconceptions of age can we be free to understand the paradox: How young are the old? — 1994
7. •
   The use of counterintuitive or contradictory statements (paradoxes) in speech or writing.

   • The need for paradox is no doubt rooted deep in the very nature of the use we make of language. — 1906
8. •
   A state in which one is logically compelled to contradict oneself.

   • Thus, like modern disputants, they aimed either to confute the respondent or to land him in paradox. — 1866
9. •
   The practice of giving instructions that are opposed to the therapist's actual intent, with the intention that the client will disobey or be unable to obey.

   • Defiance-based paradox is employed so that the family will actively oppose and deliberately sabotage the prescription. — 1988
10. •
    (no longer used) A statement which is difficult to believe, or which goes against general belief.

    • they contended to make that Maxim, that there is no faith to be held with Infidels, a meere and absurd Paradox [...]. — 1615