Word
counterintuitive
Phoneticscoun·ter·in·tu·itive
UK/kˌaʊntəɹɪntjˈuːɪtˌɪv/
Definition
adj. describing something that is hard to understand because it goes against what you expect. It feels like the opposite of what common sense would tell you.
adj. contrary to what one would intuitively expect; difficult to understand because it goes against common sense or instinct. Often used to describe complex systems, data, or logical conclusions.
Examples
“The solution to the puzzle is actually counterintuitive.”
“Many people find it counterintuitive that adding more lanes to a highway can actually make traffic worse.”
“The software's interface is intentionally counterintuitive, designed to prevent users from performing high-risk operations without a thorough understanding of the underlying data structures.”
Examples
simple
“The solution to the puzzle is actually counterintuitive.”
contextual
“Many people find it counterintuitive that adding more lanes to a highway can actually make traffic worse.”
complex
“The software's interface is intentionally counterintuitive, designed to prevent users from performing high-risk operations without a thorough understanding of the underlying data structures.”
Real-World Examples
Common in culture writing
“Moyes is 63 (three months younger than José Mourinho, which, like Aberdeen being further west than Bristol, is a fact both true and too counterintuitive to be worth believing).” “The research highlights a counterintuitive finding: The top positions carry the highest salaries, yet competition for them is so fierce that the winners bid away almost the entire advantage.” Etymology
From counter- + intuitive. Coined by Noam Chomsky in 1955 as “counter-intuitive”.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/counterintuitive