different between paradoxical vs unlikely
paradoxical
English
Etymology
paradox +? -ical
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?pæ???d?ks?k?l/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?p????d??ks?k?l/
- Hyphenation: pa?ra?dox?ic?al
Adjective
paradoxical (comparative more paradoxical, superlative most paradoxical)
- Having self-contradictory properties.
- 1776, Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, book II, ch 2
- It is the ambiguity of language only which can make this proposition appear either doubtful or paradoxical. When properly explained and understood, it is almost self-evident.
- 1898, H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, Book 2, ch 4
- It sounds paradoxical, but I am inclined to think that the weakness and insanity of the curate warned me, braced me, and kept me a sane man.
- 1933, H. P. Lovecraft & Hazel Heald, Out of the Aeons
- It was tightly fitted with a cap of the same substance, and bore engraved figurings of an evidently decorative and possibly symbolic nature - conventional designs which seemed to follow a peculiarly alien, paradoxical, and doubtfully describable system of geometry.
- 1776, Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, book II, ch 2
Synonyms
- (having self-contradictory properties): oxymoronic, self-contradictory
Antonyms
- (having self-contradictory properties): self-consistent, self-evident
Related terms
- paradox
- paradoxicality
- paradoxically
Translations
paradoxical From the web:
- what paradoxically means
- what's paradoxical sleep
- what's paradoxical bronchospasm
- what paradoxical chest movement
- what paradoxical aciduria
- what's paradoxical anxiety
- what's paradoxical septal motion
- what paradoxical pulse
unlikely
English
Etymology
From Middle English unlykely, unlikly, unlykly, unlicli, equivalent to un- +? likely.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?n?la?kli/
Adjective
unlikely (comparative unlikelier or more unlikely, superlative unlikeliest or most unlikely)
- Not likely; improbable; not to be reasonably expected.
- It's very unlikely that you'll be able to walk perfectly after being in a cast for six months.
- 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
- Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing. Yet oddly enough I found here a far more unlikely substance, and that was camphor.
- Not holding out a prospect of success; likely to fail; unpromising.
- unlikely means
Translations
Adverb
unlikely (comparative more unlikely, superlative most unlikely)
- In an improbable manner.
Translations
Noun
unlikely (plural unlikelies)
- Something or somebody considered unlikely.
- 1980, Robert K. Lindsay, Applications of artificial intelligence for organic chemistry
- The molecular ion candidates are divided by the testing phase into three categories: rejects, unlikelies, and probables. Differences between each candidate and the prominent peaks in the spectrum are computed.
- 1996, Laurie R. King, To Play the Fool
- "Here is my every possible phone number, plus a few unlikelies. And I've also put down the numbers of Karin and Wade, in case you've lost them. Karin can come anytime; Wade, up until six in the morning."
- 2001, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Marci Shimoff, Chicken soup for the mother's soul 2 (page 166)
- Then the most unlikely of unlikelies happened. We got another phone call. Another woman wanted to give us a baby—a boy, born just that morning. We walked into a hospital, and he was placed into my arms.
- 1980, Robert K. Lindsay, Applications of artificial intelligence for organic chemistry
References
- unlikely in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
unlikely From the web:
- what unlikely means
- what does unlikely mean
- unlikely define
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