as in to explain
to give the reason for or cause of
rationalized his decision to buy the new car by noting that it was more fuel efficient than his old vehicle
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Examples of rationalize in a Sentence
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Media companies across the board have been waging regular streaming price increases over the past several years as the DTC landscape rationalizes and there’s a push to turn profitable.
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Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2024
On the other hand, if at least some of these factors have checkmarks in the positive column, the result may provide enough justification to rationalize staying in place, but not enough to overcome the feeling of stuck-ness.
—Dr. Gary McClain, TIME, 15 July 2024
The goal of this new alignment would be to better rationalize and align strategies to collectively cope with the challenges brought on by state and nonstate actors.
—Jeffrey W. Hornung, Foreign Affairs, 10 Apr. 2024
Even if Democrats manage to rationalize themselves into accepting Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy, the incumbent has been done in by his allies’ candor.
—Noah Rothman, National Review, 1 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for rationalize 
Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2024
On the other hand, if at least some of these factors have checkmarks in the positive column, the result may provide enough justification to rationalize staying in place, but not enough to overcome the feeling of stuck-ness.
—Dr. Gary McClain, TIME, 15 July 2024
The goal of this new alignment would be to better rationalize and align strategies to collectively cope with the challenges brought on by state and nonstate actors.
—Jeffrey W. Hornung, Foreign Affairs, 10 Apr. 2024
Even if Democrats manage to rationalize themselves into accepting Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy, the incumbent has been done in by his allies’ candor.
—Noah Rothman, National Review, 1 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for rationalize
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rationalize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Rationalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rationalize. Accessed 7 Sep. 2024.
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