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
This entails the messy but necessary work of (finally) consolidating and rationalizing your tech portfolio to weed out duplicative or unneeded systems and applications.
—
Forrester, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Forrester, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rationalizing
Verb
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The film opens just as its predecessor ended, with a handy recap explaining how Ne Zha and his angelic counterpart, Ao Bing, ended up in need of bodily reincarnation.—
Derek Robertson,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
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Amorim has been clearer and more consistent in explaining his tactical ideas and vision for the future.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass said there was no emergency justifying the military.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
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Bob felt that Clark Gilmer was 'justifying the harm' done to trans people in her comments about King.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rationalizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rationalizing. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
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