- 1/ˈpærədɑːks/ · /ˈpærədɒks/弔詭、矛盾的說法或現象。
A paradox is something that seems to say two opposite things at the same time, but might still be true. It can be a strange fact about the world, or a clever sentence that sounds impossible until you stop and think about it - like "the more you give away, the more you have." In everyday talk, people also use "paradox" more loosely, just to mean something odd or confusing, even when there isn't a real contradiction underneath.
示範例句 · Example
It is a paradox that such a rich country still has so much poverty.
逐字這是一個矛盾：這樣一個富有的國家仍然有這麼多的貧窮。
常見搭配
it is a paradox that
矛盾的是……
used to introduce a situation that seems strangely self-opposing
It is a paradox that the busiest people often find time to help.
an apparent paradox
看似矛盾之處
something that looks self-opposing until it is explained
There is a way out of this apparent paradox.
the central paradox of something
某事最核心的矛盾
the main self-opposing thing at the heart of a subject
That question is the central paradox of the whole book.
a curious paradox
一個奇特的矛盾
an odd self-opposing fact worth noticing
It is a curious paradox that the smallest shops last the longest.
core核心畫面
組成From Greek "para-" (against, beside) + "doxa" (opinion) - literally "against common opinion."
原始詞典資料10 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
paradoxnoun/ˈpæ.ɹəˌdɒks/
- 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.
- The active sense of living which we all enjoy, before reflection shatters our instinctive world for us, is self-luminous and suggests no paradoxes.
- 2
A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome.
- It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.
- The most fundamental paradox is that if we're never to use force, we must be prepared to use it and to use it successfully.
- 3
A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true.
- Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox.
- How quaint the ways of Paradox! / At common sense she gaily mocks! / Though counting in the usual way years twenty-one I've been alive, / Yet reck'ning by my natal day, / Yet reck'ning by my natal day, / I am a little boy of five!
- 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.
- You are a paradox of bitch and angel.
- 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?
- 7
obsoleteA statement which is difficult to believe, or which goes against general belief.
- Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner / transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the / force of honesty can translate beauty into his / likeness: this was sometime a paradox, but now the / time gives it proof.
- they contended to make that Maxim, that there is no faith to be held with Infidels, a meere and absurd Paradox [...].
- 8
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.
另外 2 個記錄的用法
- 9
human-sciencesphilosophysciencesA 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.
- 10
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.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。