paradoxicallyadv.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. G4^v I aunswere paradoxically, but truely.

1606 Sir G. Goosecappe v. i, in A. H. Bullen Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1884) III. 81 Divinely spoken, Sir, but verie Paradoxicallie.

1639 J. Ford Ladies Triall iii. sig. F3 You could chat gravely then, in formall tones, Reason most paradoxically.

1788 J. Priestley Lect. Hist. v. lxiv. 512 Some persons have paradoxically maintained that there can be no inconvenience whatever attending any national debt.

1809 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. II. v. iii. 23 Thus it may paradoxically be said, that there is never so good an understanding between two nations, as when there is a little misunderstanding.

1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. i. v. 120 Nevertheless, to speak paradoxically, the existence of insignificant people has very important consequences in the world.

1901 Daily Chron. 6 May 8/3 The annual ‘Mays’—paradoxically held in June—are fixed for the 5th of the latter month and following days.

1990 P. P. Read On Third Day xv. 162 Anna watched him uneasily—wondering, paradoxically, whether his speaking such sense was a sign that he had gone out of his mind.