Paradox

How to spell paradox

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce paradox

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does paradox mean?

1. nounA statement or situation that seems self-contradictory or absurd yet may express a deeper truth.

Paradox in a sentence

• The report highlighted a curious paradox in the company's spending habits.

• Saving money by spending more felt like a genuine paradox to the new staff.

Where does paradox come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word comes from the Greek paradoxon, which combined para, meaning 'beside' or 'contrary to', with doxa, meaning 'opinion' or 'common belief'. Literally, then, it described something contrary to what people ordinarily expect or accept as true. The Greeks used it for statements that ran against received wisdom, and Latin took it over as paradoxum. English borrowed it in the 1500s, at first for a claim that seemed absurd yet might be defended, and later for the sharper modern sense of a statement that contradicts itself. The doxa root also survives in 'orthodox' (right belief) and 'doxology', and keeping that 'dox' spelling in mind, rather than 'docks', is the main thing that fixes the ending in memory.

How the word is built

• para- (beside, contrary to)
• dox (opinion, belief, from Greek doxa)