Meanings
- A paradox about a person's expectations about the timing of a future event which they are told will occur at an unexpected time. It is based on the idea that a prisoner, told that he will be hanged on a day unknown to him, concludes that "I cannot be hanged on Friday because if I haven't been hanged by the end of Thursday then it would no longer be a surprise", and so on backwards through the week.
Synonyms: hangman paradox
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA paradox about a person's expectations about the timing of a future event which they are told will occur at an unexpected time. It is based on the idea that a prisoner, told that he will be hanged on a day unknown to him, concludes that "I cannot be hanged on Friday because if I haven't been hanged by the end of Thursday then it would no longer be a surprise", and so on backwards through the week.
Cite this entry
unexpected hanging paradox. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unexpected%20hanging%20paradox
“unexpected hanging paradox.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unexpected%20hanging%20paradox. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unexpected hanging paradox,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unexpected%20hanging%20paradox.
Source: unexpected hanging paradox on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.