as in unreasonable
not using or following good reasoning
it's irrational to think that you can continue to consume an excess of calories and not gain weight
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Recent Examples of irrational
The Window Is the Point The historical skepticism around moonshot investing was not irrational.
—
Ethan Stone, USA Today, 29 May 2026
Your wife has an irrational aversion to rubber band germs.
—John Hodgman, New York Times, 29 May 2026
This is the organizational manifestation of the 0.1% problem: not irrational exuberance but rational conservatism, embedded in every quarterly earnings call and performance review cycle.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 25 May 2026
Both shows demonstrated the miracles that can only happen in a room full of crazed music fanatics, in the face-to-face confrontation between a performer and an audience, when they’re both equally possessed by that unkillable, irrational, passionate, and downright dangerous lust for music.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 17 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for irrational
Ethan Stone, USA Today, 29 May 2026
Your wife has an irrational aversion to rubber band germs.
—John Hodgman, New York Times, 29 May 2026
This is the organizational manifestation of the 0.1% problem: not irrational exuberance but rational conservatism, embedded in every quarterly earnings call and performance review cycle.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 25 May 2026
Both shows demonstrated the miracles that can only happen in a room full of crazed music fanatics, in the face-to-face confrontation between a performer and an audience, when they’re both equally possessed by that unkillable, irrational, passionate, and downright dangerous lust for music.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 17 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for irrational
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irrational
Adjective
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However, investing in public institutions and infrastructure is a costly endeavor that can seem unreasonable when local officials are struggling to balance budgets without increasing tax burdens.—
Aneri Pattani,
USA Today,
6 June 2026
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Nineteen recent clinical trials on kratom leaf document no evidence of severe addiction or significant or unreasonable adverse effects.—
Tara Molina,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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Bainbridge knew about secrets and unreasoning shame.—
Christopher Tayler,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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Let sound political prescience but take the place of an unreasoning prejudice, and this will be done.—
Frederick Douglass,
The Atlantic,
16 Aug. 2017
Adjective
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After testing against other economic variables that may have contributed to higher costs, and comparing housing activity in high-fraud ZIP codes to low-fraud ones in the same county, the researchers found illegitimate PPP loans to be one of the core drivers of housing prices.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
29 May 2026
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That does not automatically mean every lawsuit involving a president and an executive agency is illegitimate.—
Andrew Leahey,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Irrational.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irrational. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
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