COUNTERINTUITIVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does counterintuitive mean? 

• COUNTERINTUITIVE (adjective)
  The adjective COUNTERINTUITIVE has 1 sense:

1. contrary to what common sense would suggest

  Familiarity information: COUNTERINTUITIVE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COUNTERINTUITIVE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Contrary to what common sense would suggest

Similar:

unreasonable (not reasonable; not showing good judgment)

 Context examples 

Rainfall warming the air also sounds counterintuitive — people are used to rain cooling the air around them, not warming it.

(NASA Data Suggest Future May Be Rainier Than Expected, NASA)

This was counterintuitive as hydrogen leads to an oxygen-deficient environment while the formation of nitrate requires oxygen.

(Asteroids, Hydrogen Make Great Recipe for Life on Mars, NASA)

As counterintuitive as it seems, in this case, exaggerating an abnormality can be beneficial.

(Self-tuning neurons promote resilience to stress, depression, NIH)

The beauty of the study really lies in the counterintuitive discovery that easy to make does not mean the material will be worse, but can actually be better.

(‘Messy’ production of perovskite material increases solar cell efficiency, University of Cambridge)