as in explanations
a statement given to explain a belief or act
the rationale for starting the school day an hour later is that kids will supposedly get an extra hour of sleep
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rationales
That, together with preemptive blocking and generalized rationales, suggests that the volunteer community is increasingly prioritizing prevention, efficiency and content quality over efforts to rehabilitate new users.
—
Ryan McGrady,
The Conversation,
25 June 2026
The president has offered several rationales for the war in Iran, chief among them dismantling Tehran’s nuclear program.
—
Lauren Green,
The Washington Examiner,
19 June 2026
Cicero has been my nemesis in this book, for unconscionably grasping for elder power and offering up rationales for doing so repeated over the centuries.
—
Literary Hub,
18 June 2026
Transparency mechanisms such as feature attribution logging and traceable alert rationales are becoming standard components in pharmacy AI platforms.
—
Ethan Stone
june 3,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 June 2026
Writers such as Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson published eloquent ecological and scientific rationales for wilderness preservation, wildlife management, and pollution control, laying the intellectual groundwork for the late 1960s and early ’70s boom in environmental legislation.
—
John Reid,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
The lawsuit also includes a lot of lengthy rationales that this is cultural appropriation of an Indigenous person that has nothing to do with the legality of Right of Publicity.
—
Brian Welk,
IndieWire,
8 May 2026
Freed from all the entanglements that come with having to launch a ground invasion, air war can overfly not just morality and law but arguments, rationales, the calibration of risks to rewards and of suffering to satisfaction.
—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
Instead, the White House offered frequently shifting rationales for its war and little outreach to the Iranian resistance.
—
Benjamin Wallace-Wells,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
Ryan McGrady,
The Conversation,
25 June 2026
The president has offered several rationales for the war in Iran, chief among them dismantling Tehran’s nuclear program.
—
Lauren Green,
The Washington Examiner,
19 June 2026
Cicero has been my nemesis in this book, for unconscionably grasping for elder power and offering up rationales for doing so repeated over the centuries.
—
Literary Hub,
18 June 2026
Transparency mechanisms such as feature attribution logging and traceable alert rationales are becoming standard components in pharmacy AI platforms.
—
Ethan Stone
june 3,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 June 2026
Writers such as Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson published eloquent ecological and scientific rationales for wilderness preservation, wildlife management, and pollution control, laying the intellectual groundwork for the late 1960s and early ’70s boom in environmental legislation.
—
John Reid,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
The lawsuit also includes a lot of lengthy rationales that this is cultural appropriation of an Indigenous person that has nothing to do with the legality of Right of Publicity.
—
Brian Welk,
IndieWire,
8 May 2026
Freed from all the entanglements that come with having to launch a ground invasion, air war can overfly not just morality and law but arguments, rationales, the calibration of risks to rewards and of suffering to satisfaction.
—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
Instead, the White House offered frequently shifting rationales for its war and little outreach to the Iranian resistance.
—
Benjamin Wallace-Wells,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rationales
Noun
-
Some explanations of bodily difference were obviously wrong, such as physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence Benjamin Rush’s conviction that the dark skin of African Americans was a disease, derived from leprosy.
-
The Mass, rich in velvet and gold-trimmed vestments, chanting and incense, was livestreamed on the society’s YouTube channel, with simultaneous explanations in several languages.
Noun
-
Both Kurtz and Langeliers cited workload and the need for rest during the long Major League Baseball season as reasons for their lack of interest.
-
Many areas have been exempted for a variety of reasons, including lots in hillside fire zones and lots in Historic Protection Overlay Zones.
Noun
-
Trump had campaigned on restricting birthright citizenship, arguing that the citizenship clause had been misinterpreted, and attended the April 2026 oral arguments in a first for a sitting president.
-
Now, after oral arguments in January, the laws will be protected.
Cite this Entry
“Rationales.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rationales. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
