irrationality
Americannoun
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the quality or condition of being irrational.
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an irrational, illogical, or absurd action, thought, etc.
noun
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the state or quality of being irrational
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irrational thought, action, or behaviour
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of irrationality
First recorded in 1560–70; irrational + -ity
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Options remain the best way to monetize investor irrationality and emotional dysregulation.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
It’s simply a matter of taking advantage of structural market irrationality.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 26, 2025
Through the animal’s point of view, De Los Santos Arias considers the enduring grip of colonialism and the consequences of human irrationality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
The logic is closer to game theory than pure irrationality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Then the potential enemy is tempted to submit on points of dispute rather than unleash a global confrontation, which the aura of irrationality has made plausible.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
But they can newly explain so many of the irrationalities that are directly a product of the digital age.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
Well, all the reading I do is sort of aimed at the general mission of being more compassionate toward other people's irrationalities and skeptical of my own.
From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2024
In this way, Kirsch accepts the standard story about modernity: that ours is an era of “disenchantment” in which the old myths and irrationalities have been crushed under the boot heel of enlightened techno-science.
From Slate ● Jan. 26, 2023
The crux of the problem, as Cowen points out, is that it’s nearly impossible to understand irrationalities without taking advantage of them.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 27, 2012
"She doesn't mean anything by it," her little world had always said; and put up with the inconvenience of her furies, with the patience of people who were themselves incapable of the irrationalities of temper.
From The Iron Woman by Deland, Margaret Wade Campbell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
