rationalization
noun
Simple meaning
A statement of one's motives, or of the causes of some event.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rashuhnuhlihzayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹæʃənəlɪˈzeɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A statement of one's motives, or of the causes of some event.
economics
Systematic organization; the act of organizing something according to a system or a rationale
economics
The reorganization of a company or organization in order to improve its efficiency through the reallocation of resources and changes in its workforce.
psychiatry
A defense mechanism by which your true motivation is concealed by explaining your actions and feelings in a way that is not threatening
psychiatry
The concealment of true motivation in some non-threatening way.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A statement of one's motives, or of the causes of some event.
Used this way, rationalization is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Systematic / organization
Reorganization
Process or result
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
In a rational manner.
Defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.