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Recent Examples of unreason
In that book, his characters confront the decline of American public speech—its degeneration into varieties of unreason and the proto-fascist violence that follows.
—
Nicholas Dames, The Atlantic, 7 Apr. 2026
Good manners are replaced with bad, reason with unreason, and the drawing-room drama’s comforting show of civility becomes an unsettling exhibition of cruelty: the lunch that is served up is a picnic on a precipice.
—John Lahr, New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2026
For one, the sheer appeal to unreason underlying Thunberg’s anti-Zionism — betraying its origins in an emotional reflex rather than a logical argument, and thus impossible to negotiate with — is identical to her earlier approach to environmental activism.
—The Editors, National Review, 11 June 2025
For all Eggers’s dramatization of unreason, his images sit heavily onscreen awaiting something more significant than mere admiration—interpretation.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Like many politicians, Khan is trying to reason with a maelstrom of unreason.
—Peter Guest, WIRED, 26 Mar. 2024
The country has entered what can only be characterized as an age of unreason, with large swaths of its population embracing wild conspiracy theories.
—Jonathan Kirshner, Foreign Affairs, 29 Jan. 2021
Nicholas Dames, The Atlantic, 7 Apr. 2026
Good manners are replaced with bad, reason with unreason, and the drawing-room drama’s comforting show of civility becomes an unsettling exhibition of cruelty: the lunch that is served up is a picnic on a precipice.
—John Lahr, New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2026
For one, the sheer appeal to unreason underlying Thunberg’s anti-Zionism — betraying its origins in an emotional reflex rather than a logical argument, and thus impossible to negotiate with — is identical to her earlier approach to environmental activism.
—The Editors, National Review, 11 June 2025
For all Eggers’s dramatization of unreason, his images sit heavily onscreen awaiting something more significant than mere admiration—interpretation.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Like many politicians, Khan is trying to reason with a maelstrom of unreason.
—Peter Guest, WIRED, 26 Mar. 2024
The country has entered what can only be characterized as an age of unreason, with large swaths of its population embracing wild conspiracy theories.
—Jonathan Kirshner, Foreign Affairs, 29 Jan. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unreason
Noun
-
All of this creates new pathways between the brain’s neurons, improving cerebral neuroplasticity and preventing neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia.—
Alessandra Signorelli,
Vogue,
29 May 2026
-
She is left to care for her partner’s elderly mom who battles Parkinson’s and dementia.—
Idaho Statesman,
Idaho Statesman,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
As the saying goes, there is no great genius without some touch of madness.—
Amy Lawrence,
New York Times,
31 May 2026
-
Some families came from beyond the KC area to catch the banana madness.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
31 May 2026
Noun
-
Adair Fish pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on May 4, a spokesperson with the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said.—
Laura Bauer
June 2,
Kansas City Star,
2 June 2026
-
The Dutchman pleaded guilty to the murder charges, claiming temporary insanity.—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
30 May 2026
Noun
-
Sometime in the mid-sixties, Sam brought home a coffee-table book about astrology, and Linda became consumed by it, launching into a self-education that approached mania.—
Rachel Syme,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
-
As the Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy mania of earlier this year showed us, to dress simply is often to dress well.—
Elizabeth Logan,
Glamour,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
Liaquat Ahamed has spent his career studying the moments when the world’s financial system breaks down — the bad bets, the collective delusions, and the geopolitical accidents that tip economies into catastrophe.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
2 June 2026
-
Among these delusions is the perennial faith that Iranians are potentially ardent converts to American-style freedom, rather than inheritors of an ancient civilization with a trajectory outlined by its own specific history.—
Wyatt Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unreason.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unreason. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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