Age of Reason
Americannoun
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any period in history, especially the 18th century in France, England, etc., characterized by a critical approach to religious, social, and philosophical matters that seeks to repudiate beliefs or systems not based on or justifiable by reason.
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age of reason, the age at which a person is considered capable of distinguishing between right and wrong.
noun
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.
Every person past the age of reason understands that people actively avoiding a country is not a good look.
From Salon • Dec. 19, 2025
But “from the time I reached the age of reason, I knew I was a muxe,” Santiago said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2024
Dameron grew up in the South, where queerness was to be concealed at any cost: “I had learned by the time I reached the age of reason that my dreams were not fit to share.”
From New York Times • Jun. 30, 2019
Our conversation took place in Stengel’s office, the same room that was used by Secretary of State George C. Marshall, a paradigmatic figure in the American age of reason.
From Washington Post • Nov. 29, 2016
In second grade, at the age of seven, we were considered by the Church to have reached the age of reason; we were supposed capable of distinguishing good from evil.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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.
