Word.ws English Dictionary

Hooper's paradox

Hooper's paradox proper noun: a falsidical paradox based on an optical illusion, where a geometric shape with an area of 32 units is dissected into four parts, which are then assembled into a rectangle with an area of only 30 units; however, the triangles of the dissected shape are not quite identical to the triangles in the rectangle.

hooper's paradox: a falsidical paradox based on an optical illusion, where a geometric shape with an area of 32 units...
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Proper noun

Hooper's paradox

  1. A falsidical paradox based on an optical illusion, where a geometric shape with an area of 32 units is dissected into four parts, which are then assembled into a rectangle with an area of only 30 units; however, the triangles of the dissected shape are not quite identical to the triangles in the rectangle.

Origin of Hooper's paradox

Published in 1774 by William Hooper.

Questions about Hooper's paradox

What does Hooper's paradox mean?
Hooper's paradox means a falsidical paradox based on an optical illusion, where a geometric shape with an area of 32 units is dissected into four parts, which are then assembled into a rectangle with an area of only 30 units; however, the triangles of the dissected shape are not quite identical to the triangles in the rectangle.
What part of speech is Hooper's paradox?
Hooper's paradox is a proper noun.

Words near Hooper's paradox in the dictionary

  1. hoop-la
  2. Hoopa
  3. Hoopa Valley
  4. hooped
  5. hooper
  6. Hooper's paradox
  7. Hooperating
  8. Hooperatings
  9. hooperon
  10. hooperons
  11. hoopers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Hooper's 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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Cite this entry: “Hooper's paradox.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hooper%27s_paradox. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.