rationalization

[ rash-uh-nl-ahy-zey-shuhn, rash-nl- ]

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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

Other Words From

• 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of rationalization¹

rationaliz(e) ( def ) + -ation ( def )

Example Sentences

In an email to the Times regarding the lawsuit, LaBeouf stated he had “no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations” and he had “been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years.”

From Washington Post

Americans often appeal to the idea of America as rationalization for their decisions or as a point of pride.

From Washington Post

I rationalized the dysfunction by reminding myself that every working environment had its good and bad qualities.

From Eater

It’s a little harder to rationalize my own desire to jump the gun.

From Outside Online

Yet most of those in his party simply looked the other way at his conspiracy theorizing — or tried to rationalize his behavior.

From Washington Post

No, this is a victory for corporate greed digging its claws into whatever façade of a rationalization it can get within its grasp.

From The Daily Beast

At the same time, there are those who ricochet between denial and rationalization.

From The Daily Beast

But that sort of rationalization may be better tackled by psychologists than the justices of the Supreme Court.

From The Daily Beast

But the scapegoat is convenient—and the rationalization is complacent.

From The Daily Beast

Today she has a much different perspective, calling that decision many years ago “all justification and rationalization.”

From The Daily Beast

The rods were so thin they hardly warranted a package of their own, but that is rationalization, as you call it.

From Project Gutenberg

Now after this rationalization you have made, Mrs. Paine, it is your recollection that you did not make such a comment?

From Project Gutenberg

It is not the rationalization of Jewish dogma that he is interested in, nor the reconciliation of religion and philosophy.

From Project Gutenberg

"That's a childish rationalization, Tex," she said with a lot more sharpness than I had expected.

From Project Gutenberg

They have not the ideal of progress which dominates the Western nations, and affords a rationalization of our active impulses.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• justification
• rationale