rationalization

[ rash-uh-nl-ahy-zey-shuhn, rash-nl- ]
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noun
  1. the act or process of ascribing one’s actions, opinions, etc., to causes that seem reasonable and valid but are actually unrelated to the true, possibly unconscious and often less complimentary ones:Those who torture prisoners believe, in their loftiest rationalizations, that they are committing their deeds for the good of the nation.

  2. the act or process of making something conformable to reason or to the principle that reason is the highest authority for truth:In conceiving the world as a Newtonian universe governed by natural laws, Taylor provided the conceptual framework for the rationalization of the world in the 20th century.

  1. Chiefly British. the act or process of reorganizing and integrating an industry, company, etc., to make it more efficient and profitable:The film studios were able to achieve such remarkable production figures through a rationalization of their working practices.

  2. Mathematics. the act or process of eliminating radicals from an equation or expression:Rationalization will make calculation easier, as the denominator will now be an integer instead of a radical.

Origin of rationalization

1
  • Also especially British, ra·tion·al·i·sa·tion .

Other words from rationalization

  • non·ra·tion·al·i·za·tion; especially British, non·ra·tion·al·i·sa·tion, noun
  • o·ver·ra·tion·al·i·za·tion; especially British, o·ver·ra·tion·al·i·sa·tion, noun

Words Nearby rationalization

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rationalization in a sentence