as in explanation
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
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Recent Examples of rationale
Harrison has been widely criticized for the press conference, with some criticizing his rationale for the Doncic trade and the secrecy surrounding the event.
—
Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 2025
The system developed its top hypothesis with a simple rationale, drawing a link to another research area and coming to a conclusion the human team had taken years to arrive at.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2025
Currie also questioned the economic rationale for seafloor mining.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Apr. 2025
Wood's rationale for the $2,600 base case target by 2029 focuses on Tesla's transformation from an automaker to a technology and software company, similar to Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
—Michael Khouw, CNBC, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rationale
Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 2025
The system developed its top hypothesis with a simple rationale, drawing a link to another research area and coming to a conclusion the human team had taken years to arrive at.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2025
Currie also questioned the economic rationale for seafloor mining.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Apr. 2025
Wood's rationale for the $2,600 base case target by 2029 focuses on Tesla's transformation from an automaker to a technology and software company, similar to Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
—Michael Khouw, CNBC, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rationale
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rationale
Noun
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There are two competing explanations for why this happens.—
Hersh Shefrin,
Forbes.com,
3 May 2025
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There might be an explanation behind this recent tendency, though: Barca players are exhausted, and some are injured.—
Pol Ballús,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
Noun
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April showers bring May flowers—and plenty of reasons to gather around the table.—
Symiah Dorsey,
Southern Living,
2 May 2025
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The National Institute of Standards and Technology would lose $350 million for similar reasons.—
John Timmer,
ArsTechnica,
2 May 2025
Noun
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Some of the key arguments in recent weeks have been handled by lawyers newly hired into political, rather than career, positions.—
Eric Tucker,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2025
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Anne and Ginny’s is the sort of dynamic jagged and fluid enough to build a series around — just not this series, which, to its detriment, seems far more interested in watching Kate and Jack and Danny and Claude rehash the same old arguments with each other.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
1 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rationale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rationale. Accessed 13 May. 2025.
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