Skip to main content
aporia

aporia

9.9
A feeling of doubt and puzzlement when a problem cannot be solved
  • noun
  • /əˈpɔːriə/
  • Formal
translation icon : aporía
  • But certainly, one of the most distressing elements of our current aporia in the face of Islam's challenge is the inability of people to recognize the millennial and apocalyptic dynamics at work.

Examples

  • During the debate, the candidate confronted an aporia when asked how to balance economic growth with environmental protection.

  • Radical aporia raises its ugly head only in the lecture hall or the seminar room.

    Academic text (1995)
  • So I track this aporia between acknowledgement and avoidance, between giving warning and taking notice in the dream.

    Academic text (2004)
  • This is an interesting aporia for postmoderns to ponder.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Socrates' conversations characteristically end with bafflement or aporia and a promise to meet again, confident that the problem can be talked through.

    Academic text (2005)
  • On the basis of such reflections, it is not surprising that Einan's poems occasionally hesitate, that they become aware of the aporia: how can one attain the unattainable?

    Academic text (1997)
  • The philosopher experienced an aporia when faced with a question that had no straightforward answer.

  • At the heart of their discussion lay an aporia that left both participants puzzled about how to proceed.

Synonyms

question
vsaporia
2.7

A feeling of doubt about whether something is true

refers to uncertainty that a problem has no clear or possible answer
quandary
vsaporia
25 8.2

A situation when you do not know what to do

highlights doubt arising when there is no clear or solvable choice
puzzlement
vsaporia
9 5.5

A feeling of not understanding something that is hard to explain

adds the sense that no workable answer or solution is available
perplexity
vsaporia
4 7.5

Feeling confused because something is hard to understand

focuses on doubt when the problem seems without any clear solution
unsureness
vsaporia
3.8

A feeling of doubt or low confidence

is stronger doubt when no acceptable solution can be found

Antonyms

2.1

An answer to a problem or a way to deal with a difficult situation

How Puzzled

aporia
  • Formal
9.9
bewilderment
12 4.8
perplexity
4 7.5
puzzlement
9 5.5

Surface Forms

aporia singular
aporias plural

Etymology

Aporia comes from Greek parts a- meaning 'not' and poros meaning 'a way through', as in porous. So an aporia is a state of 'no way through', a puzzling doubt with no clear solution.