were rationalizing

• past progressive

  past progressive

  Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.

  of rationalize.
  rationalize

  verb (used with object)

  to ascribe (one's acts, opinions, etc.) to causes that superficially seem reasonable and valid but that actually are unrelated to the true, possibly unconscious and often less creditable or agreeable causes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

were rationalizing

According to her friend Andrew Ward, now in the psychology department at Swarthmore College, “the working assumption in those years was that happy people were rationalizing all the time.”

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2013

Analyst Greenwald found, they were rationalizing their step.

From Time Magazine Archive

Related Words

• justify