Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to rationalize away

to rationalize away

2 7.9
Try to explain strange events with normal reasons to dismiss other ideas
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈræʃənəˌlaɪz əˈweɪ/
  • US
: racionalizar
  • Objections to team composition were rationalized away as an exercise in 21st-century job skills that future employers will be looking for and are nonnegotiable.

They they, they rationalize away the problem.

Examples

  • People often try to rationalize away their mistakes by blaming others.

  • No wonder people can rationalize away almost any behavior.

    Blog text (21)

  • They they, they rationalize away the problem.

    Film Courage

  • Probably not, was the conclusion Smith invariably came to, but it always made him feel better to rationalize away the alternatives.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Humans have a nearly infinite capacity to rationalize away any evidence that doesn't fit their worldview.

    Blog text (27)

  • We could be soon facing a sudden and unavoidable clarification of the reality of the unconstitutional regime we live under, that the subjects can no longer rationalize away.

    Blog text (15)

  • Students expect to find results that confirm their initial beliefs and are accustomed to rationalizing away results that do not conform (e.g., "I made a mistake" or "the equipment did not work").

    Academic text (1994)

  • It's common for individuals to rationalize away their fears with logical reasons.

  • After the incident, she attempted to rationalize away her feelings of guilt by focusing on her intentions.

Synonyms

to explain
vsto rationalize away
∞ 1.0

To show why something happened

focuses on rejecting other explanations by supplying logical or natural reasons
to excuse
vsto rationalize away
46 2.5

Try to explain a mistake to make it seem less serious

applies logic to deny alternative causes rather than merely defend personal errors
to rationalize
vsto rationalize away
  • US
40 6.4

Give untrue reasons to explain your actions

tends to dismiss other explanations by giving logical justifications for events
to reason out
vsto rationalize away
5 4.8

To think carefully to find an answer to a problem

uses logic to replace supernatural or unusual explanations with natural ones
to interpret away
vsto rationalize away
  • Informal
1 8.0

To say problems or criticism are not serious by changing their meaning

does this by offering natural or logical causes to remove alternative explanations
to naturalize
vsto rationalize away
  • US
1 6.7

To explain something by nature or science instead of by magic

focuses on dismissing alternative explanations by offering logical natural reasons

How Convincing

to rationalize away
  • US
2 7.9
to attribute
203 3.8
to suggest
∞ 1.6

Surface Forms

rationalize away infinitive
rationalized away past
rationalized away past participle
rationalizing away present participle
rationalizes away third person singular

Morphology

rationalize + away

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'rationalize' (to offer justifications) with the particle 'away' (to remove or dismiss): together they convey explaining something so as to dismiss or eliminate it. The verb + away construction commonly signals removal or diminution in English (and parallels exist in other languages), so a learner who knows both constituents should infer the intended sense.

Etymology

Rationalize away comes from the simple image of using rationalize (making a reason) to push something away. One popular picture is covering a strange event with a neat, logical story so it seems to disappear, which is why the phrase means 'to explain' or 'dismiss' something unusual.