as in rational
having the ability to reason
judged by the courts not to be a reasoning being who could be held accountable for his crimes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in logic
the thought processes that have been established as leading to valid solutions to problems
your reasoning here is faulty, for although all wives are spouses, not all spouses are wives
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in understanding
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 arguing
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of reasoning
Dave Smith, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025
Some will excel at coding, others at reasoning, and still others at data analysis or creative writing.
—Marco Argenti, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
Yun Li, CNBC, 19 Sep. 2025
The group filed for an injunction on June 27 reasoning that the case would go their way in the end.
—Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reasoning
Noun
Those include a pair of open and freely available artificial intelligence models that can mimic the human process of reasoning, months after China’s DeepSeek gained global attention with its own open software.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025
Some will excel at coding, others at reasoning, and still others at data analysis or creative writing.
—Marco Argenti, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
Verb
Earlier this year, Norway's sovereign wealth fund proposed switching to semiannual reporting, reasoning that lengthening the time frame would allow companies to focus on the longer term.
—Yun Li, CNBC, 19 Sep. 2025
The group filed for an injunction on June 27 reasoning that the case would go their way in the end.
—Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reasoning
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reasoning
Adjective
-
Every argument has a rational, emotional, and rhetorical component.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
5 Oct. 2025
-
If the court concludes that conversion therapy is conduct, then the Colorado law is subject to the same standard used in Skrmetti – rational basis – and likely will survive.—
Timothy R. Holbrook,
The Conversation,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The logic is sound for a business that relies on the skill and ideas of its people to find and develop new drug candidates, which is vital for long-term growth in pharmaceuticals.—
Jessica Coacci,
Fortune,
9 Oct. 2025
-
There is a logic to allow college athletes to bet on pro sports if their classmates can do so.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
While most of these asteroids pose little threat, understanding their trajectories is crucial for assessing potential impact probabilities.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Experts called the findings critical to understanding autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.—
Jessica Coacci,
Fortune,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The American Chemistry Council took issue with the report’s findings on low birth weight and liver issues, arguing that the evidence wasn’t as robust as the report claimed.—
Sharon Lerner,
ProPublica,
10 Oct. 2025
-
Johnson’s son said that women were arguing with his mother about sharing the insurance information.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The company’s mission is to eliminate design errors and accelerate innovation through intelligent automation.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Oct. 2025
-
His modernization was both intelligent and beautiful, rooted in Coco’s own starting point — menswear codes and techniques.—
Martino Carrera,
Footwear News,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The Bills and Eagles both losing last week left the NFL with no unbeaten teams this year as the 1972 Perfect Season Dolphins had reason to celebrate yet again.—
Greg Cote
October 9,
Miami Herald,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Hill’s option will likely be exercised; there’s no reason for the club to part ways with him.—
Brendan Kuty,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In the years since, Wickelgren, Kass and others have reframed a host of other enumerative problems using motivic homotopy theory, deriving the relevant quadratic forms in various number systems.—
Joseph Howlett,
Quanta Magazine,
26 Sep. 2025
-
About half of the company’s sales are direct-to-consumer, deriving from the stores as well as Rails’ e-commerce site.—
Jean E. Palmieri,
Footwear News,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Yet Harris discovered that being a good soldier doesn’t necessarily help when the vice president is contending for the highest elective office in the land.—
Jeremy Lott,
The Washington Examiner,
3 Oct. 2025
-
As the New York Knicks gear up for what could be a title-contending season in 2025-26, the head coach that led them to their most success this century was spotted several time zones away.—
Alex Kirschenbaum,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Reasoning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reasoning. Accessed 10 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share