as in unreasonableness
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Recent Examples of irrationality
Viral memes and TikTok trends play up women’s purportedly excessive spike in libido during ovulation and dramatic irrationality during menstruation and the luteal phase (the 14 days or so between ovulation and menstruation).
—
Andréa Becker, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026
But this often requires accepting the fundamental irrationality of the wrapping-up process.
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2026
The irrationality of politicians suddenly makes sense.
—The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 24 Feb. 2026
In such conditions, apparent irrationality can invite probing, hedging or reciprocal escalation.
—Andrew Latham, The Conversation, 26 Jan. 2026
Such irrationality proofs have been rare — and at times, according to longtime Quanta contributor Erica Klarreich, dramatic.
—Jordana Cepelewicz, Quanta Magazine, 18 Dec. 2025
When prompt instructions encouraged models to maximize rewards or hit specific financial goals, irrationality increased.
—Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
This irrationality, which is especially difficult to model, often boils down to computational constraints.
—John Werner, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Andréa Becker, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026
But this often requires accepting the fundamental irrationality of the wrapping-up process.
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2026
The irrationality of politicians suddenly makes sense.
—The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 24 Feb. 2026
In such conditions, apparent irrationality can invite probing, hedging or reciprocal escalation.
—Andrew Latham, The Conversation, 26 Jan. 2026
Such irrationality proofs have been rare — and at times, according to longtime Quanta contributor Erica Klarreich, dramatic.
—Jordana Cepelewicz, Quanta Magazine, 18 Dec. 2025
When prompt instructions encouraged models to maximize rewards or hit specific financial goals, irrationality increased.
—Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
This irrationality, which is especially difficult to model, often boils down to computational constraints.
—John Werner, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irrationality
Noun
-
Local law enforcement cannot work preventively alone, and our federal partners have a much clearer picture of online extremism.—
The Denver Post Editorial Board,
Denver Post,
8 May 2026
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But the flight to extremism, and the metastasizing inanity, is a two-party problem, and those of us who are Democrats and who care about the importance of regrowing the dormant (if not dead) political center have an obligation to try to do something about it.—
Jeffrey Robbins,
Boston Herald,
4 May 2026
Noun
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But beyond its account of a family in flight, from both the authorities and its own murkier truths, Dangerous, Dirty, Violent and Young interrogates the radicalism of the 1960s and 70s, its unlikely alliances, its political legacies, and its many, many casualties along the way.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 Apr. 2026
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But that distinction would have made little sense to seventeenth-century women, whose religious radicalism led them to make vehement political critiques of their own society.—
Chandler Fritz,
The New York Review of Books,
21 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Irrationality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irrationality. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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