rationality
noun
ra·tio·nal·i·ty
| \ ˌra-shə-ˈna-lə-tē
\
\
plural rationalities
Definition of rationality
1
: the quality or state of being rational
2
: the quality or state of being agreeable to reason : reasonableness
3
: a rational opinion, belief, or practice
—usually used in plural
Examples of rationality in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Economists Marco Sahm of the University of Bamberg and Robert K. von Weizsäcker of the Technical University of Munich study the extent to which our background knowledge determines whether rationality or gut feeling is more effective. — Laura Kutsch, Scientific American, "Can We Rely on Our Intuition?," 15 Aug. 2019 One thing is clear: intuition and rationality are not necessarily opposites. — Laura Kutsch, Scientific American, "Can We Rely on Our Intuition?," 15 Aug. 2019 Third, Paul would balk at the rationality of the NCAA’s criteria. — Michael Mccann, SI.com, "How Rich Paul Could Build a Case Against the NCAA for its New Criteria Added for Agents," 6 Aug. 2019 These depended, as did all microeconomic theory of the day, on the assumption that rationality dominates human decision making. — Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, "Real World Economics: ‘Inflation is solved’? Don’t bank on it," 28 July 2019 The righteously perverse individual appreciates the value of rationality, morality, and the good life—and then, chafing against them, chooses another path. — Paul Bloom, The New Yorker, "The Strange Appeal of Perverse Actions," 19 July 2019 This makes no sense, except as a way of sheltering assumptions about Britain and Europe—as movie set, dream vacation, island of rationality, and cultural holy land—of which Americans are fond. — Marilynne Robinson, Harper's magazine, "Is Poverty Necessary?," 10 June 2019 Chess was long considered the epitome of human strategic thought, a symbol of calculating rationality and intellect. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, "A New A.I. Is Running the Table Against Poker Pros. Is Business Strategy Next?," 11 July 2019 And the tendency to obsess over reason and rationality overlooks this fact. — Sean Illing, Vox, "Why science can’t replace religion," 4 Nov. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rationality.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for rationality
rationality
noun
ra·tio·nal·i·ty
| \ ˌrash-ə-ˈnal-ət-ē
\
\
plural rationalities
Medical Definition of rationality
1
: the quality or state of being rational
2
: the quality or state of being agreeable to reason
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