Guide to Literary Terms | Paradox

Paradox - a statement that is apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really contains a possible truth. Sometimes the term is applied to a self-contradictory false proposition. It is also used to describe an opinion or statement which is contrary to generally accepted ideas. Often, a paradox is used to make a reader consider the point in a new way.

The term is from the Greek paradoxos, meaning “contrary to received opinion” or “expectation.”

An example of paradox is contained in Caesar’s speech from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar:

Cowards die many times before their deaths.
Act II, scene ii : line 32

see: epigram, oxymoron