Thesaurus results for RATIONALIZE

rationalize

verb

ˈrash-nə-ˌlīz

as in to explain

to give the reason for or cause of rationalized his decision to buy the new car by noting that it was more fuel efficient than his old vehicle

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of rationalize True crime, as a genre, rationalizes its exploitations—people’s tragedies and traumas, recast for popular consumption—by couching the sensationalism in considerations of justice. —

Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 9 Mar. 2026 Winning a title is the only way to justify such a trade — a trade that, on a surface level, is nearly impossible to rationalize for Bridges or roughly 434 other NBA players who don’t fall into the elite category of players who might vindicate trading lock, stock and barrel for them. —

James L. Edwards Iii, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026 Lisa Simon, chief economist at Revelio Labs, which collects and analyzes public labor market data, also suspects that some companies are pointing to their use of AI to rationalize layoffs. —

Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 3 Feb. 2026 Each lie is rationalized as politics. —

Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for rationalize

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rationalize

Verb

Using a synesthetic logic all his own, Torres explains why Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson is orange, Catholicism is purple, and navy blue is the nefarious color that secretly runs the world.

— Richard Brody, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026
For an overview of small business tax responsibilities, see IRS Publication 583, which explains general filing and recordkeeping requirements.

— Nancy Ashburn, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026