as in explaining
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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Recent Examples of rationalizing
Boards under pressure for growth routinely make the wrong choice—rationalizing the damage as a problem for their successors.
—
Andrew King, Fortune, 20 Sep. 2025
To find the best, most up-to-date information, that validation typically involves toggling between PubMed, society guidelines, journal notifications and conference summaries, and then rationalizing information that doesn’t always align.
—Anna Forsythe, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Headed one direction This line of thinking leads in one direction — rationalizing extreme measures in response.
—David French, Mercury News, 17 Sep. 2025
With this setup, and with two stars who have done well playing characters on their respective Houses with a great capacity for rationalizing their cruelty to others, The Girlfriend could easily get away with going back and forth on the blame game for most of its six-hour length.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2025
Andrew King, Fortune, 20 Sep. 2025
To find the best, most up-to-date information, that validation typically involves toggling between PubMed, society guidelines, journal notifications and conference summaries, and then rationalizing information that doesn’t always align.
—Anna Forsythe, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Headed one direction This line of thinking leads in one direction — rationalizing extreme measures in response.
—David French, Mercury News, 17 Sep. 2025
With this setup, and with two stars who have done well playing characters on their respective Houses with a great capacity for rationalizing their cruelty to others, The Girlfriend could easily get away with going back and forth on the blame game for most of its six-hour length.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rationalizing
Verb
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May acted as his own attorney at a hearing that included prosecutors showing charts explaining in stark, factual ways what was on each video May is charged with distributing.—
Jeffrey Collins,
Twin Cities,
26 Sep. 2025
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But mostly the veteran producer spent his wide-ranging conversation with Variety‘s Clayton Davis explaining the job that is often hard to define — the role of a producer — and discussing the state of the film business.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Fundamentals Relative to peers, FTNT trades at a modest premium on forward P/E multiples, but its profitability metrics far exceed industry averages, justifying upside potential.—
Tony Zhang,
CNBC,
24 Sep. 2025
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Avoid debating or justifying your actions repeatedly.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rationalizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rationalizing. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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