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
Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2026
So which tools actually deliver results backed by clinical reasoning, and which are little more than expensive distractions?
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Kansas City Star, 8 Apr. 2026
Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 24 Mar. 2026
This is a form of reasoning typical to translators.
—Jan Steyn, The Dial, 10 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for reasoning
Noun
Augusta’s reasoning was that running an amateur tournament helps grow the game and support the next generation of female golfers, and the club has a long history of supporting amateurs.
—Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2026
So which tools actually deliver results backed by clinical reasoning, and which are little more than expensive distractions?
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Kansas City Star, 8 Apr. 2026
Verb
Like Sherlock Holmes or Benoit Blanc, Grace relies on reasoning to uncover the truth — only, in his case, billions of lives depend on his deductions.
—Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 24 Mar. 2026
This is a form of reasoning typical to translators.
—Jan Steyn, The Dial, 10 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for reasoning
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reasoning
Adjective
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And being rational, as Rawls stipulated that proto-citizens are, means being averse to risk.—
George G. Szpiro,
Big Think,
9 Apr. 2026
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The lawsuit claims that Missouri lawmakers used no rational basis to categorize which counties qualified for a 5% cap, a freeze or neither.—
Jenna Ebbers,
Kansas City Star,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
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That omission ignores economic logic and common sense.—
Brooke Creek,
Boston Herald,
7 Apr. 2026
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That logic, Galt convinced me, is misogynistic.—
Emily Watlington,
ARTnews.com,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In the end, the deepest release isn’t about getting a medical tag, but rather about understanding why those unrelenting obstacles continued to exist.—
Lucy Jones
April 11,
Miami Herald,
11 Apr. 2026
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That design, which is unlike anything else in the economy, makes the gas-price sign a kind of key to understanding American life.—
Ian Bogost,
The Atlantic,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In reaction, Afreximbank in January formally ended its relationship with one of the Big Three rating agencies, arguing that rating methodologies applied to states and multilateral institutions fail to reflect development mandates.—
Tiisetso Motsoeneng,
semafor.com,
10 Apr. 2026
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Combs’ lawyers formally appealed the conviction last December, arguing the encounters were consensual and the trial judge imposed an overly harsh sentence.—
Nicole Acosta,
PEOPLE,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Xuechun Wang, a post-doctoral researcher at QMUL, specializes in applying machine learning algorithms to building intelligent sensors.—
Maureen Mackey , Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
11 Apr. 2026
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Rats are also highly intelligent.—
Scott Simon,
NPR,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Snook believes there are several reasons for pickleball’s momentum.—
Janice Phelan,
Kansas City Star,
8 Apr. 2026
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Bayern Munich will take an advantage back to Germany next week and their goalkeeper is one of the reasons why.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The very legitimacy of deriving general principles from the particulars of experience can never be established from experience without already having the principle in hand.—
Christopher Beha,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
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Large language models represent the first technology capable of analyzing, contextualizing and deriving insights from this avalanche of information.—
Sahar Hashmi,
Forbes.com,
25 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Just look at the other contending teams right now, some of them much better bets to win it all at this point than the Knicks are, and with good reason.—
Mike Lupica,
New York Daily News,
11 Apr. 2026
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Maria Hadden, 49th, on Wednesday wrote an email to her colleagues contending the mayor’s office wants contributions to certain aldermanic staffers’ pensions to come out of their ward expense accounts, according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by the Tribune.—
Alice Yin,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Reasoning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reasoning. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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