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rational
[ rash-uh-nl, rash-nl ]
adjective
- agreeable to reason; reasonable; sensible:
a rational plan for economic development.
- having or exercising reason, sound judgment, or good sense:
a calm and rational negotiator.
Synonyms: sagacious, judicious, wise, intelligent
Antonyms: stupid
The patient appeared perfectly rational.
Antonyms: insane
- endowed with the faculty of reason:
rational beings.
- of, relating to, or constituting reasoning powers:
the rational faculty.
- proceeding or derived from reason or based on reasoning:
a rational explanation.
- Mathematics.
- capable of being expressed exactly by a ratio of two integers.
- (of a function) capable of being expressed exactly by a ratio of two polynomials.
- Classical Prosody. capable of measurement in terms of the metrical unit or mora.
noun
- Mathematics. rational number.
rational
/ ˈræʃənəl /
adjective
- using reason or logic in thinking out a problem
- in accordance with the principles of logic or reason; reasonable
- of sound mind; sane
the patient seemed quite rational
- endowed with the capacity to reason; capable of logical thought
man is a rational being
- maths expressible as a ratio of two integers or polynomials
a rational number; a rational function
noun
- maths a rational number
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Derived Forms
- ˈrationally, adverb
- ˈrationalness, noun
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Other Words From
- ra·tion·al·ly adverb
- ra·tion·al·ness noun
- an·ti·ra·tion·al adjective
- hy·per·ra·tion·al adjective
- non·ra·tion·al adjective
- o·ver·ra·tion·al adjective
- pre·ra·tion·al adjective
- qua·si-ra·tion·al adjective
- trans·ra·tion·al adjective
- ul·tra·ra·tion·al adjective
- un·ra·tion·al adjective
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of rational1
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Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
They want to make sure they make the best rational decision – but they can’t.
Aristotle held that our nature as rational animals means that it is objectively good for us when we act rationally and objectively bad for us when we fail to do so.
Rioting and unrest, while tragic and destructive, remains a historically familiar and rational response to state violence and weak democratic institutions.
That’s like telling us rational economic man is self-interested.
Where I live behind the Orange curtain in Southern California, the sudden leap to virtual classroom teaching and learning makes rational sense during this period of growing coronavirus infections.
In all fairness, too, Marshall has at the ready pretty rational reasons for almost every change he made in this adaptation.
The fact that the virus is still alive has sustained many safety concerns, both rational and irrational, about its use.
Reactionary movements are, first and foremost, not rational.
To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational.
And, as noted with victim blaming, this undermines men as thinking, rational, conscious beings.
To supply eminent humorists and others with enjoyable, rational, and profitable employment.
The pleasures of life (the rational pleasures I hope) had always an attraction for me.
Seven o'clock in the morning is too early for any rational human being to be herded into a factory at the call of a steam whistle.
So, again, the rule of the English Church seems less beneficial than that of the more rational and free Nonconformist.
The farmers prefer human machines to work for them, to rational thinking men and women.
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