A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It included shrinking state-owned companies; cutting government bureaucracy; creating a private housing market; and rationalizing public finances in a way that allowed Beijing to function as a modern state.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The agency describes the move as "a step forward in rationalizing its use and promoting its safe and responsible use."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 26, 2026
Far too many people, who also depended on the accused for their livelihoods, ignored complaints and obvious signs of distress or simply looked the other way, rationalizing the incidents as the cost of doing business.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
That promise appeals most strongly to social groups who find themselves “somehow out of sync with the rationalizing present of capitalism,” offering them a fraudulent reactivation of “unfulfilled pasts and unrealized presents.”
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2024
Objectionable as Arnold’s rationalizing criticism was to contemporary orthodoxy, and questionable as was his equipment in point of theological learning, his spirituality of outlook and ethical purpose were not to be denied.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various
