Word.ws English Dictionary

barber paradox

barber paradox proper noun: a paradox of self-reference, where, supposing that every man either shaves himself or is shaved by the barber, and the barber shaves all and only the men who do not shave themselves, then it is impossible to determine who shaves the barber.

Proper noun

the barber paradox

  1. A paradox of self-reference, where, supposing that every man either shaves himself or is shaved by the barber, and the barber shaves all and only the men who do not shave themselves, then it is impossible to determine who shaves the barber.

Questions about barber paradox

What does barber paradox mean?
Barber paradox means a paradox of self-reference, where, supposing that every man either shaves himself or is shaved by the barber, and the barber shaves all and only the men who do not shave themselves, then it is impossible to determine who shaves the barber.
What part of speech is barber paradox?
Barber paradox is a proper noun.

Words near barber paradox in the dictionary

  1. barber chaired
  2. barber chairing
  3. barber chairs
  4. Barber County
  5. barber itch
  6. barber paradox
  7. barber pole
  8. barber pole effect
  9. barber pole effects
  10. barber pole illusion
  11. barber pole illusions

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: barber paradox (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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