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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
-
Girardi — who was placed under a temporary conservatorship after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's and dementia — reported to prison in July to begin his seven-year sentence.—
Brianne Tracy,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Greenhaven had racked up years of health violations, including from letting untrained workers administer medications, lacking enough employees to care for people with dementia, and neglecting a resident who smeared feces over his body, bed, floor, and bathroom, the notice said.—
Jordan Rau,
Miami Herald,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The priests argued that madness was a punishment from the gods and that healing came through repentance, along with sacrifices that helped maintain the temple’s operations.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
-
The final round of fixtures on Saturday is going to be madness.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The assassination attempt failed — and Hinckley was arrested, tried and found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982.—
Kelsie Cairns,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
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His acquittal, which led to a public outcry, had an impact on the federal insanity defense — leading to a shift in the burden of proof.—
Katrina Kaufman,
CBS News,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Ironically, an honest-to-goodness mummy movie consumed with exotica (the first one from 1932 was released in the wake of the global mania over King Tut’s tomb) makes a lot of sense right now, with America straying into foreign deserts.—
Joshua Rothkopf,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Through her precise storytelling, Hao offers a clarifying perspective amid the AI mania and lays bare the ravenous, profit-seeking egos driving it.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The first type is replete with hallucinations and delusions—voices, visions, grandiose beliefs, paranoia.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Over pinwheeling synths, Mahesh inhabits her narrator’s misplaced longing with gooey, heart-eyed delusion and sweetly pathetic determination.—
Harry Tafoya,
Pitchfork,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unreason.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unreason. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
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