Word.ws English Dictionary

Newcomb's paradox

Newcomb's paradox proper noun: a thought experiment involving a game between two players, one of whom purports to be able to predict the future. The first player has to try to maximize winnings by choosing one of two boxes of money; however, the amount won also depends on whether a prediction made about the choice by the other player proves to be true.

Proper noun

Newcomb's paradox

  1. A thought experiment involving a game between two players, one of whom purports to be able to predict the future. The first player has to try to maximize winnings by choosing one of two boxes of money; however, the amount won also depends on whether a prediction made about the choice by the other player proves to be true.

Synonyms of Newcomb's paradox

Origin of Newcomb's paradox

Created by William Newcomb of the University of California.

Questions about Newcomb's paradox

What does Newcomb's paradox mean?
Newcomb's paradox means a thought experiment involving a game between two players, one of whom purports to be able to predict the future. The first player has to try to maximize winnings by choosing one of two boxes of money; however, the amount won also depends on whether a prediction made about the choice by the other player proves to be true.
What part of speech is Newcomb's paradox?
Newcomb's paradox is a proper noun.

Words near Newcomb's paradox in the dictionary

  1. newco
  2. newcoin
  3. Newcom
  4. newcomb
  5. Newcomb ball
  6. Newcomb's paradox
  7. Newcomb's problem
  8. Newcombe
  9. Newcombes
  10. Newcombs
  11. newcome

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Newcomb'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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