different between unknown vs paradoxical

English

Etymology

From un- +? known, past participle of know. Compare Old English ungecnawen.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n?n??n/
• (US) enPR: ?n-n?n?, IPA^(key): /?n?no?n/

Adjective

unknown (comparative more unknown, superlative most unknown)

1. (sometimes postpositive) Not known; unidentified; not well known.

   Synonyms: anonymous, unfamiliar, uncharted, undiscovered, unexplored, unidentified, unnamed, unrecognized, unrevealed, unascertained, obscure, unsung

   Antonyms: well-known, famous, known

Derived terms

• unknown quantity

Translations

Noun

unknown (plural unknowns)

1. (algebra) A variable (usually x, y or z) whose value is to be found.
2. Any thing, place, or situation about which nothing is known; an unknown fact or piece of information.
3. A person of no identity; a nonentity
   • 1965, Bob Dylan, "Like a Rolling Stone"

     How does it feel

     To be on your own

     With no direction home

     Like a complete unknown

     Like a rolling stone?

Translations

Verb

unknown

1. past participle of unknow

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)

1. 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.

Synonyms

• (having self-contradictory properties): oxymoronic, self-contradictory

Antonyms

• (having self-contradictory properties): self-consistent, self-evident

Related terms

• paradox
• paradoxicality
• paradoxically

Translations