as in paradox
someone or something with qualities or features that seem to conflict with one another
she's an incongruity: an impeccably groomed woman who keeps a messy house
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Recent Examples of incongruity
In another show, with a lesser writer, such incongruities could be read as character inconsistencies, accidental oversights, mistakes.
—
Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 7 Apr. 2025
This is the incongruity that fuels Universal Language, Matthew Rankin’s glorious parody-slash-ode to someone else’s shadows-on-a-wall missives — a gesture of decontextualization that layers one country’s extraordinary visual poetry over another’s extreme blandness.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Feb. 2025
The natural state of life is that of incongruity; thus, better have your boxes ready.
—Colin Fleming, New York Daily News, 22 Jan. 2025
Setting aside the delightful incongruity between the coach who once promised to bite off peoples’ kneecaps and his miniature companions, the fourth-down factor is a big part of what makes the Lions Must-See TV.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 17 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incongruity
Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 7 Apr. 2025
This is the incongruity that fuels Universal Language, Matthew Rankin’s glorious parody-slash-ode to someone else’s shadows-on-a-wall missives — a gesture of decontextualization that layers one country’s extraordinary visual poetry over another’s extreme blandness.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Feb. 2025
The natural state of life is that of incongruity; thus, better have your boxes ready.
—Colin Fleming, New York Daily News, 22 Jan. 2025
Setting aside the delightful incongruity between the coach who once promised to bite off peoples’ kneecaps and his miniature companions, the fourth-down factor is a big part of what makes the Lions Must-See TV.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 17 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incongruity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incongruity
paradox
Noun
-
This theory of form contains a paradox in practice.—
Lauren Michele Jackson,
New Yorker,
10 May 2025
-
California’s climb to the world’s fourth-largest economy marks a milestone and illustrates a paradox.—
Aref Aziz,
Mercury News,
9 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incongruity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incongruity. Accessed 16 May. 2025.
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