counterintuitively
/ˌkaʊn.tər.ɪnˈtʃuː.ɪ.tɪv.li/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌkaʊn.t̬ɚ.ɪnˈtuː.ɪ.t̬ɪv.li/ (ame, ipa)
counterintuitively — adverb
1. used when saying that a fact or result goes against what most people would natur
used when saying that a fact or result goes against what most people would naturally expect or think makes sense
Counterintuitively, shorter meetings often leave the team with clearer decisions.
sentence-initial: marks a result that clashes with normal expectations
Adding one more lane, counterintuitively, made the morning traffic even slower.
mid-sentence: comma-set adverb before the surprising outcome
Theo slept better after leaving his phone in the kitchen overnight, counterintuitively.
Counterintuitively, watering the tomato plants less often helped their roots grow deeper.
Ziad earned higher marks after studying fewer topics each night, counterintuitively.
- paradoxically
stronger and more literary; suggests a sharper logical contradiction
- surprisingly
broader and more everyday; may signal surprise without a clear clash with common sense
- unexpectedly
focuses on lack of warning, not on a result that seems backward
- oddly enough
informal and conversational; softer than counterintuitively
- predictably
shows that the outcome follows what people would normally expect
- unsurprisingly
marks a result as expected rather than contrary to intuition
文法句型
Counterintuitively, + clause
clause, counterintuitively, + result
result + counterintuitively
用法筆記
Most often comments on a whole result rather than on one single action. It is especially common in research, policy, health, and design writing when the writer wants to warn readers that the next finding will seem backward at first.