reasonable
Americanadjective
-
agreeable to reason or sound judgment; logical.
a reasonable choice for chairman.
- Synonyms:
- wise, judicious, intelligent, equitable
-
not exceeding the limit prescribed by reason; not excessive.
reasonable terms.
-
moderate, especially in price; not expensive.
The coat was reasonable but not cheap.
-
endowed with reason.
-
capable of rational behavior, decision, etc.
adjective
-
showing reason or sound judgment
-
having the ability to reason
-
having modest or moderate expectations; not making unfair demands
-
moderate in price; not expensive
-
fair; average
reasonable weather
Related Words
Reasonable, rational refer to the faculty of reasoning. Rational can refer to the reasoning faculty itself or to something derived from that faculty: rational powers; a rational analysis. It can also mean sane or sensible: She was no longer rational; a rational plan. Reasonable most often means sensible: A reasonable supposition is one which appeals to our common sense. See moderate.
Other Word Forms
- half-reasonable adjective
- half-reasonably adverb
- nonreasonability noun
- nonreasonable adjective
- nonreasonableness noun
- nonreasonably adverb
- quasi-reasonable adjective
- quasi-reasonably adverb
- reasonability noun
- reasonableness noun
- reasonably adverb
Etymology
Origin of reasonable
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English resonable, from Middle French raisonnable, from Latin ratiōnābilis. See reason, -able
Explanation
Reasonable describes someone or something that's sensible and fair, like your teacher who gives reasonable homework assignments — they don't take you forever to do and they relate to what you are studying. If you're reasonable, you have good sense and judgment. A reasonable decision is rational and thought out, like your mom's reasonable rule about not eating crumbly foods in her car. When you describe a store's prices as reasonable, you mean they're fair — not too high. And if you are given a reasonable amount of time to do a project for school, you have no excuse for it being late.
Vocabulary lists containing reasonable
Twelve Angry Men
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Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address (1801)
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Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
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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.
To be clear, both are reasonable reads of the literature, but the reporters would write different stories because of how the A.I. decided to order the same information.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026
More-powerful AI chips need water to cool them, and managing that increasingly scarce resource is now mission-critical for any hyperscaler that wants to maintain good public relations and be a reasonable steward of the environment.
From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026
Earlier this week, UBS analyst Joseph Spak upgraded Tesla stock to neutral from sell while reiterating a $352 price target, writing that shares now trade at a “more reasonable level.”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026
The party said it would introduce plans to "empower local authorities to promote safety, learning and student wellbeing by restricting the use of smartphones in schools for under-16s" with "reasonable and relevant exemptions".
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026
What the fox showed him proved to be the reasonable explanation to the voices that C.C. assured him there would be, but nonetheless, to Duane, the illusion the fox created seemed magical.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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.
