Synonyms of reasoning

reasoning 1 of 3

adjective

as in rational

having the ability to reason

judged by the courts not to be a reasoning being who could be held accountable for his crimes

Synonyms & Similar Words

• rational
• intelligent
• thinking
• reasonable
• logical
• analytic
• mental
• cognitive
• practical
• intellectual
• cerebral
• sensible
• cognitional
• sane
• brainy
• highbrow
• highbrowed
• levelheaded
• sober

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• irrational
• unreasonable
• nonrational
• unthinking
• unintelligent
• unreasoning
• stupid
• dumb
• slow
• dense
• obtuse
• senseless
• fatuous
• nonthinking
• mindless
• illogical
• dull
• fallacious
• dopey
• nonsensical
• brainless
• invalid
• groundless
• dorky
• doltish
• thickheaded
• half-witted

reasoning

2 of 3

noun

ˈrēz-niŋ 

as in logic

the thought processes that have been established as leading to valid solutions to problems

your reasoning here is faulty, for although all wives are spouses, not all spouses are wives

Synonyms & Similar Words

• logic
• reason
• argumentation
• sense
• logicality
• intellection
• ratiocination
• logicalness
• rationality
• analysis
• persuasiveness
• coherence
• synthesis
• cogency
• syllogism
• deduction
• dissection
• convincingness
• induction
• disputation
• rationalness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• illogic
• incoherence
• absurdity
• irrationality
• insanity
• preposterousness
• senselessness
• nonsensicalness
• brainlessness

reasoning

3 of 3

verb

present participle of reason

1

as in understanding

to form an opinion or reach a conclusion through reasoning and information

she reasoned that since all of the cakes were on sale for the same price, she might as well pick the biggest one

Synonyms & Similar Words

• understanding
• deriving
• deciding
• thinking
• concluding
• inferring
• deducing
• extrapolating
• judging
• guessing
• assuming
• speculating
• reading
• ascertaining
• drawing a conclusion
• supposing
• gathering
• making out
• interpreting
• rationalizing
• construing
• surmising
• conjecturing
• contemplating
• philosophizing
• finding out
• doping (out)

2

as in arguing

to state (something) as a reason in support of or against something under consideration

he tried to reason that no one in their right mind would buy his brother's old video games, but they were put on the online auction anyway

Synonyms & Similar Words

• arguing
• contending
• pleading
• convincing
• explaining
• asserting
• justifying
• insisting
• maintaining
• claiming
• mentioning
• suggesting
• persuading
• considering
• citing
• proposing
• affirming
• adducing
• defending
• rationalizing
• discussing
• enforcing
• advocating
• advising
• offering
• urging
• submitting
• recommending
• refuting
• debating
• advancing
• giving
• counseling
• averring
• supporting
• avowing
• countering
• avouching
• espousing
• disproving
• championing
• confuting
• rebutting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of reasoning

Noun

Then there is the question of the current leadership’s reasoning for beginning this conflict. —Chicago Tribune, 12 Mar. 2026

The stats are important — but the reasoning is far more so. —Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 12 Mar. 2026

Verb

But Sophie decides not to, reasoning that Benedict is only looking for the Lady in Silver, who’s a fantasy. —Olivia Singh, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026

The next phase in our work involves validating the framework with extensive testing, measuring how metacognitive monitoring improves performance across diverse tasks, and extending the framework to start reasoning about reasoning, or metareasoning. —Ricky J. Sethi, The Conversation, 26 Jan. 2026