1
as in explanation
a statement given to explain a belief or act
she gave a good reason for her seemingly suspicious behavior
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in motive
something (as a belief) that serves as the basis for another thing
a firm belief that we are here on earth to help others is the reason for her tireless volunteer work
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in excuse
an explanation that frees one from fault or blame
what reason do you have for being in such a bad mood?
Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in cause
someone or something responsible for a result
what's the meteorological reason for tornadoes?
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in sense
the ability to learn and understand or to deal with problems
you'll need to use all of your reason to get out of this tight spot
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
6
as in mind
the normal or healthy condition of the mental abilities
was afraid that with all the stress he was under, he'd lose all reason
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
7
as in reasoning
the thought processes that have been established as leading to valid solutions to problems
in a time of national crisis we need to listen to the voice of reason
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to understand
to form an opinion or reach a conclusion through reasoning and information
she reasoned that since all of the cakes were on sale for the same price, she might as well pick the biggest one
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in to argue
to state (something) as a reason in support of or against something under consideration
he tried to reason that no one in their right mind would buy his brother's old video games, but they were put on the online auction anyway
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of reason
Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 9 June 2026
Banking records included in the DOJ's Epstein files indicate that Groff also received three payments of $100,000 and one for $110,000 from Epstein companies between 2016 and 2018, though the records do not indicate the reasons for the payments.
—Lauren Peller, ABC News, 9 June 2026
Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 28 May 2026
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images On the agentic AI front, Google announced Gemini Spark, a new general purpose AI agent in the Gemini app that can reason across information in connected apps.
—Jennifer Elias, CNBC, 19 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for reason
Noun
That's one reason many beneficiaries choose to purchase Medicare supplemental insurance, often referred to as Medigap coverage.
—Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 9 June 2026
Banking records included in the DOJ's Epstein files indicate that Groff also received three payments of $100,000 and one for $110,000 from Epstein companies between 2016 and 2018, though the records do not indicate the reasons for the payments.
—Lauren Peller, ABC News, 9 June 2026
Verb
The work spans several areas of robotics, including multi-arm coordination, humanoid navigation, object manipulation, and vision-language-action models that allow robots to reason through tasks before acting.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 28 May 2026
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images On the agentic AI front, Google announced Gemini Spark, a new general purpose AI agent in the Gemini app that can reason across information in connected apps.
—Jennifer Elias, CNBC, 19 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for reason
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reason
Noun
-
This Dutchman has yet to read a better explanation for what makes the nation of his birth tick.—
Leander Schaerlaeckens
June 8,
Literary Hub,
8 June 2026
-
Pasandideh said they were not given an explanation as to why some of the visas were not issued.—
Alexandra Mendoza,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 June 2026
Noun
-
The Sheriff’s Office did not release any details about a motive or what might have led to the fatal shooting.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
10 June 2026
-
Critics, however, have questioned the administration’s motives behind the new division given that fraud was already prosecuted by the agency’s Criminal Division, which last year announced the largest coordinated takedown of healthcare fraud schemes in Justice Department history.—
Alanna Durkin Richer,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
The two-day festival spans the museum (great excuse to check it out) and the Harold Washington Library Center.—
Jennifer Day,
Chicago Tribune,
4 June 2026
-
Of course all the business between Patricia and the Boogeyman is just an excuse for Widow’s Bay to stage a corker of a send-up of 1978’s Halloween and slasher movies of its ilk.—
Jen Chaney,
Vulture,
3 June 2026
Noun
-
Multiple investigations at the state and local level are underway to unravel the full cause of the near disaster.—
Jason Henry,
Oc Register,
30 May 2026
-
The staff responds to between 50 and 70 strandings annually, and the typical cause of death is pneumonia, Rust says.—
Mark Price,
Charlotte Observer,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
With it, comes a public sense of ownership of its most important characters.—
Sheena McKenzie,
CNN Money,
7 June 2026
-
Lundgren shares some wise words about how being a man is more than muscles, and about getting in front of himself — which doesn't make sense at the time, but will later.—
Gerrad Hall,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 June 2026
Noun
-
However, bright, clever ideas also might spring up in your mind.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
30 May 2026
-
With this in mind, researchers ran some simulations to explore how all that jostling for position might have affected the moons of Jupiter and Uranus in particular — and the results suggest that these two planets' moons only survived that tumultuous time because of a giant planet that didn't.—
Kiona N. Smith,
Space.com,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
Popular models like Claude now show their reasoning before delivering a final answer, letting users watch the model work through a problem step by step.—
Julia Dhar,
Fortune,
29 May 2026
-
In regulated and safety-critical industries especially, transparent reasoning is a must.—
Dustin Johnson,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
This is inevitably a book by a human about how humans—the makers of art and its viewers—understand the dog seeing in relation to our species.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
-
While readouts from the two sides as of Tuesday afternoon did not reference nuclear weapons, the meetings may also be a chance for each to understand the other’s strategy and stance – and express their own.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Reason.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reason. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
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