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
Not a single critic of the book was struck by the incongruity of this failure in basic thriller plotting.
—
Literary Hub, 5 Feb. 2026
Plehn finds the bottom-quark incongruities intriguing.
—IEEE Spectrum, 3 Feb. 2026
In another show, with a lesser writer, such incongruities could be read as character inconsistencies, accidental oversights, mistakes.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 7 Jan. 2026
That creates a certain level of incongruity on those campuses.
—Dana Taylor, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incongruity
Literary Hub, 5 Feb. 2026
Plehn finds the bottom-quark incongruities intriguing.
—IEEE Spectrum, 3 Feb. 2026
In another show, with a lesser writer, such incongruities could be read as character inconsistencies, accidental oversights, mistakes.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 7 Jan. 2026
That creates a certain level of incongruity on those campuses.
—Dana Taylor, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incongruity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incongruity
paradox
Noun
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Zermelo was pleased that his list of principles, known as ZF, appeared to cleanse the set-theoretic universe of many major paradoxes such as Russell’s.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
29 Apr. 2026
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And in what may seem as a paradox, Maryland last year saw a record number of flash floods, caused by the impacts of climate change, creating periods of long dry spells followed by sudden torrential rainfall.—
Sacoby Wilson,
Baltimore Sun,
29 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Incongruity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incongruity. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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