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
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Recent Examples of reasoning
JSTOR Daily, 23 Oct. 2025
The site has a long series of articles and manifestos explaining their reasoning.
—James Folta, Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 24 Sep. 2025
The new puzzles are more complex than those from 2019, sometimes requiring the application of multiple rules, reasoning for multiple steps, or interpreting symbols.
—Matthew Hutson, IEEE Spectrum, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reasoning
Noun
By refusing to specify details of the case, the government keeps the possibility alive of changing their reasoning or their claims to have the same effect for different reasons—just as the mob changes its reasoning for killing Cinna.
—JSTOR Daily, 23 Oct. 2025
The site has a long series of articles and manifestos explaining their reasoning.
—James Folta, Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
Verb
Michell was reasoning from Newton’s laws.
—Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 24 Sep. 2025
The new puzzles are more complex than those from 2019, sometimes requiring the application of multiple rules, reasoning for multiple steps, or interpreting symbols.
—Matthew Hutson, IEEE Spectrum, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reasoning
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reasoning
Adjective
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This season, fluorescent pink, blue and white formed a rational yet romantic palette — a vision of a young schoolgirl poised to step into the real world.—
Denni Hu,
Footwear News,
17 Oct. 2025
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Their work could be a critical step toward the safe and rational decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, and the technology could be applied to nuclear accident sites elsewhere in the world.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Each acquisition has its logic, made with great force at the time of the announcement only to be of-course-it-failed snickered at when the sale inevitably unravels.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Oct. 2025
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She’s fallen under the sway of a fashionable worldview in which logic is paramount, and the realm of emotion and magic and even dæmons is just childish fancy.—
Lev Grossman,
The Atlantic,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The emerging discipline of geomythology is coming into its own, as scientists, historians, and other scholars see the rich potential for understanding how humans have made sense of their observations of nature over time.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Oct. 2025
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Experts say there are biological and seasonal reasons behind the fall-time sleep disruption, and understanding them can help teens get better rest.—
Kris Ann Valdez,
Parents,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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While Spanish chroniclers numbered the population around the time of European contact to have been 1 million, anthropologists have disputed this, arguing instead for the population to have been 6–12 million.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
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Republicans have been arguing for a budget extension before negotiating on the credits.—
Nick Coltrain,
Denver Post,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Mark Simon is the VP of Strategy at Celigo, a leading intelligent automation platform, where he's helped thousands of ecommerce customers including major consumer brands in their digital integration and automation journeys.—
Mark Simon,
Fortune,
21 Oct. 2025
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These intelligent dogs are highly active and energetic, but respond well to obedience training.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The Today with Jenna & Friends co-host credited her sister as the reason for many of her successes, including her role as a television host.—
Ingrid Vasquez,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
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The Raptors’ 34-11 advantage in fast-break points was the biggest reason for that.—
Eric Koreen,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Specifically, Larsson was searching for dentalium shells—the long, tubular shells deriving from dentaliums, a type of marine mollusk.—
Christian Allaire,
Vogue,
13 Oct. 2025
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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
Verb
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Baltimore won a playoff game last season and entered 2025 with expectations of contending for a Super Bowl title.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
23 Oct. 2025
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Colombia disputes this, contending that Santa Rosa did not exist when the treaty was signed and therefore cannot be claimed under its terms.—
Isa Cardona,
CNN Money,
23 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Reasoning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reasoning. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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