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counterintuitive

[koun-ter-in-too-i-tiv, -tyoo-]

adjective

counter to what intuition would lead one to expect: The direction we had to follow was counterintuitive—we had to go north first before we went south.

Origin:
1960–65; counter- + intuitive

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To counterintuitive

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Counterintuitive has a plethora of syllables.

So is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. Does it mean:

an obscure term ostensibly referring to a lung disease caused by silica dust, sometimes cited as one of the longest words in the English language.

a white, crystalline, water-insoluble solid, C14H9Cl5, usually derived from chloral by reaction with chlorobenzene in the presence of fuming sulfuric acid: used as an insecticide and as a scabicide and pediculicide: agricultural use prohibited in the U.S.

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Example Sentences

It seems counterintuitive for anyone to invest in commercial real estate these days.

Spending time on offspring who do not carry any of your genes seems counterintuitive.

The idea that they might also prevent disease is counterintuitive.

EXPAND

It seems counterintuitive for anyone to invest in commercial real estate these days.

Spending time on offspring who do not carry any of your genes seems counterintuitive.

The idea that they might also prevent disease is counterintuitive.

Now, a pair of biomechanics researchers has offered a scientific explanation of how this counterintuitive tactic worked.

On the surface, the theory may seem counterintuitive.

But big scientific discoveries are by nature counterintuitive and sometimes shocking.

The big bang originated from a quantum state, and thus played by the deeply counterintuitive rules of quantum mechanics.

Russia has embraced a counterintuitive method of trying to preserve the creatures: hunting them, legally.

While paradoxes abound over the notion of infinity, they reflect our counterintuitive discomfort with the idea.

Inverted slipstreaming of this sort could have some counterintuitive effects.

At first glance, an upside-down pyramid is counterintuitive.

The counterintuitive behavior may be exploited to make a crystal sponge for chemical cleanup.

Another company has proposed a somewhat counterintuitive solution for military tagging: making sure its signal decays.

What basis is there for the counterintuitive position that.

These counterintuitive results, the authors say, make sense in light of badgers' natural history.

Swirling vortices help dust gather and grow into planets, according to counterintuitive new research.

It could make light waves appear to flow backward and behave in many other counterintuitive ways.

And that's how he crystallized his counterintuitive contention about the viability of some late-'90s business models.

Waterfront is always highly desirable but ranking it can be confusing, even counterintuitive.

If anything, it's sort of counterintuitive that the unitary family has persisted so long and pervasively in our society.

In a bar, for instance, he watched bartenders use a counterintuitive underhanded maneuver to grab and pour from a bottle.

Metaphors are often used in science to understand difficult and counterintuitive phenomena.

Their explanation involved an elegant model with deeply counterintuitive implications.

It is counterintuitive to think that any benefit for the democracies could come from helping such a regime to survive.

US agricultural policy really is a bout counterintuitive if you think about it.

But in counterintuitive fact, the culprit is a real estate boom.

The answer to your question may be counterintuitive but this is based on modern cosmology and relativity theory.

Everything is mind-numbingly expensive, but it looks cheap and/or works in some counterintuitive way.

But that ignores an inconvenient counterintuitive truth:.

Strangley, it loots no one which is why it must be counterintuitive to many.

The defined start of the seasons based on the sun's positions may seem counterintuitive.

The reasons for these counterintuitive findings are not clear, he says.

Counterintuitive wardrobe choices keep your fans guessing.

If there is a trend here that is counterintuitive in these challenging economic times for applicants and colleges, it is this:.

Losing energy brings it closer, but it moves faster, which is counterintuitive.

The practice of demoting oneself has a counterintuitive power:.

Ecology is a funny thing with all its counterintuitive connections.

With so many addictive mobile-device games competing for attention it may seem counterintuitive to expand an annual.

One hint at an explanation for these counterintuitive effects comes from the physiology of starvation.

Then there is the reality, however counterintuitive it may be, that retailers and clothing makers thrive on sizing confusion.

It may be counterintuitive to some people but this is proven mathematically.

The report cards have riled parents and public officials largely because of their often counterintuitive results.

People need to figure out which counterintuitive moments they tolerate better.

Then there is the reality, however counterintuitive it may be, that retailers and clothing makers thrive off sizing confusion.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

counterintuitive (ˌkaʊntərɪnˈtjuːɪtɪv)

—*adj*
1.	(of an idea, proposal, etc) seemingly contrary to common sense
2.	intelligence collected about enemy espionage

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

counterintuitive

also counter-intuitive, 1955, from counter- + intuitive.

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counterintuitive

coun·ter·in·tu·i·tive