rationales

noun

plural of rationale
as in explanations
a statement given to explain a belief or act the rationale for starting the school day an hour later is that kids will supposedly get an extra hour of sleep

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 rationales For Mary Kay, the latter of these rationales seems to have been clothed in the guise of the former, though the precise catalyst for establishing her own outfit remains indeterminate. — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 15 July 2026 Americans heard much more forthright rationales from generals involved in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. — Missy Ryan, The Atlantic, 10 July 2026 State legislators have various rationales for getting involved in national security policy. — Max Grinstein, The Washington Examiner, 3 July 2026 That, together with preemptive blocking and generalized rationales, suggests that the volunteer community is increasingly prioritizing prevention, efficiency and content quality over efforts to rehabilitate new users. — Ryan McGrady, The Conversation, 25 June 2026 Cicero has been my nemesis in this book, for unconscionably grasping for elder power and offering up rationales for doing so repeated over the centuries. — Literary Hub, 18 June 2026 Transparency mechanisms such as feature attribution logging and traceable alert rationales are becoming standard components in pharmacy AI platforms. — Ethan Stone june 3, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2026 The lawsuit also includes a lot of lengthy rationales that this is cultural appropriation of an Indigenous person that has nothing to do with the legality of Right of Publicity. — Brian Welk, IndieWire, 8 May 2026 Freed from all the entanglements that come with having to launch a ground invasion, air war can overfly not just morality and law but arguments, rationales, the calibration of risks to rewards and of suffering to satisfaction. — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rationales
  1. explanations
  2. reasons
  3. arguments
Noun
  • Each of these explanations could have been folded into other lines of dialogue or phone calls or literally anything else instead of being spelt out alphabetically so Twitter can’t point out a plot hole.
    — Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026
  • While official explanations have been absent regarding Aubrey’s departure and the circumstances that preceded it, its mysterious nature evokes the similarly abrupt exit of his predecessor, Shivaun Nurre, three years ago.
    — Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of explanations
Noun
  • Someone who bought a Powerball ticket at a Front Range grocery store this week has many, many reasons to celebrate – 500,000 reasons before tax, to be exact.
    — Katie Langford, Denver Post, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Maresca knows that some players need a fresh start for various reasons, which is why James Trafford moved on, despite his close relationship with the Italian from their time together in the under-23s.
    — Sam Lee, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of reasons
Noun
  • That argument, however, did not go far with Hall, nor did his other arguments.
    — Mike Vorkunov, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Similarly, Sweeney was unpersuaded by NCAA legal arguments that, as a private, membership association, it is owed deference in making business judgments before findings of antitrust liability.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of arguments

Browse Nearby Words

rationale
rationales
rationalities
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rationales.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rationales. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on rationales

Nglish: Translation of rationales for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of oxymoron

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All