square circle

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablefigurative

   Something impossible or self-contradictory, since a shape cannot be both a square and a circle at once.

   Grammar: Usually a singular noun phrase: they want a square circle.

   Patterns

   • try to create a square circle
   • a square circle of something

   Asking for a cheap, luxurious and instant renovation is like asking for a square circle.

   Critics said the party's tax plan was a square circle: big spending cuts with no pain for anyone.

   He kept looking for a square circle, a rule that was strict yet allowed every exception.

2. 2nounsingularinformalsport

   A boxing or wrestling ring, which is called circle although it is actually square.

   Grammar: Usually written as 'the squared circle': he returned to the squared circle.

   Patterns

   • step into the square circle

   The old champion announced he was stepping back into the square circle at forty.

   Commentators love calling the ring the square circle.

   She spent twenty years in the square circle before opening a gym.

Word forms

Common combinations

try to draw a square circle

Trying to please every voter is like trying to draw a square circle.

a square circle of a plan

The manager presented a square circle of a plan that nobody could carry out.

as impossible as a square circle

Her demand was as impossible as a square circle.

enter the square circle

The rookie entered the square circle to loud cheers.

Synonyms and how they differ

contradiction

A general word for ideas that clash, whereas square circle names an impossible object and sounds more vivid.

paradox

A paradox may seem absurd yet turn out to be true, while a square circle can never be real.

oxymoron

An oxymoron is a phrase that joins opposite words, such as 'deafening silence', rather than an impossible thing.

impossibility

This is plain and neutral, with none of the picture that square circle gives.

Opposites

Word family

square noun

a shape with four equal sides and four right angles

circle noun

a perfectly round shape

circular adjective

shaped like a circle

squaring the circle phrase

trying to do something impossible, from the old maths problem

Commonly confused: square circle or round table?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “square circle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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