Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

abilene paradox

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.75 in modern English

Syllables
abilene -para-dox
IPA
26
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
3
Syllables
11
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The situation where a group of people collectively decide on a course of action that goes against the preferences of many or all of the individuals in the group, because the individuals choose to side with what they believe is the majority preference.

Etymology

Introduced by Jerry B. Harvey in his 1974 article "The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement", which described the example of a group deciding to travel to Abilene, Texas, for dinner.

Inflected Forms

Abilene paradoxes (plural)

Questions

What does abilene paradox mean?
The situation where a group of people collectively decide on a course of action that goes against the preferences of many or all of the individuals in the group, because the individuals choose to side with what they believe is the majority preference.
Where does abilene paradox come from?
Introduced by Jerry B. Harvey in his 1974 article "The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement", which described the example of a group deciding to travel to Abilene, Texas, for dinner.

How to pronounce abilene paradox

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “abilene paradox”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “abilene paradox”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “abilene paradox” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.