Skip to main content
reasonless

reasonless

1 8.6
Without a good reason or explanation
  • adjective
  • /ˈrizənləs/
translation icon : sin razón
  • She felt reasonless anger toward him, not knowing why she was upset.

Examples

  • The argument was utterly reasonless, lacking any logical support or evidence.

  • Moral value came from valueless matter? And 'reasoning' came about from a reasonless universe?

    Blog text (11)
  • I'm not having you aiming tolchocks at me reasonless.

  • There was a family, he believed, who would want Flour Boy back, and so, with the flashlight tight in one hand, he lifted the boy, staggered beneath the weight of a man whose nickname, however reasonless, seemed enough of a reason to bear him back.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • For a consequentialist to adhere to a rule in the face of a consequentialist calculation showing that on this occasion more good would come from not following the rule amounts to inexplicable, reasonless, and arbitrary "rule-worship." (n40)

    Academic text (2005)
  • His actions seemed reasonless, as there was no clear justification for what he did.

Synonyms

senseless
vsreasonless
69 4.2

Foolish and having no clear reason

is a neutral statement of missing justification without the negative judgment
mindless
vsreasonless
39 4.1

Not thinking or paying attention before acting

is about missing logical justification rather than mere absence of thought
motiveless
vsreasonless
1 8.3

Happening or felt without any clear reason

focuses on missing logical justification rather than missing motive
unreasoned
vsreasonless
1 7.5

Not based on careful thinking or facts

names absence of justification itself rather than a faulty reasoning process
causeless
vsreasonless
1 8.2

Happening for no clear reason

is lack of logical justification rather than no identifiable cause
without rhyme or reason
vsreasonless
  • Informal
1 6.8

In a random way with no clear reason

is a neutral lack of logical justification rather than emphasis on randomness

Antonyms

595 2.7

Fair and sensible in thinking and behavior

How Reasonable

reasonable
595 2.7
rational
382 3.8
questionable
176 3.9
unreasonable
125 3.0
irrational
192 4.4
reasonless
1 8.6
absurd
288 4.4

Surface Forms

reasonless positive

Morphology

reasonless = reason (transparent) = reason + less

Formed by the productive suffix '-less' added to the common noun 'reason', yielding a predictable meaning 'without reason'.

Etymology

Reasonless is made from reason and the ending -less, where reason means 'thinking or logic' and -less means 'without'. Think of words like hopeless or fearless to remember that -less takes something away. So, reasonless means 'without reason' — doing something with no good reason.