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unreason

unreason

1 9.9
A state of not thinking clearly or logically
  • noun
  • /ʌnˈrizən/
translation icon : irracionalidad
  • And the term intolerance is of course, just euphemism for a wave of unreason and humanity that was sweeping the country.
  • reason and unreason

Faith comes to know it as falsehood, unreason, and is ill intentioned.

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Examples

  • So do faith and unreason, but your point is well taken.

    Blog text (23)
  • Medicine and witchcraft, pharmacology and demonology, reason and unreason struck an odd alliance.

    Academic text (2001)
  • But the unreason of faith, and of this particular faith, has been with us a long time.

    Blog text (13)
  • Rachel used to say, "And the voice of unreason is heard in the land."

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Now my world has shrunk to a few square miles, but the voice of unreason is still heard here.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Rather, what was needed was a type of anti-art that could effect a balance between reason and unreason.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The problem with looking for the reasons behind unreason is that, well, unreason doesn't have sensible reasons.

    Blog text (14)
  • The idea that only someone who'd reached real depths of unreason could muster.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Human beings, Richter suggests, are a mixture of opposing characteristics: reason and unreason, conscious and unconscious, civilized and primitive, thought and feeling.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The politician's speech was filled with unreason, making it difficult to understand his true intentions.

Synonyms

irrationality
vsunreason
12 6.2

A lack of clear, logical thinking

is identical but stresses lack of ability to think logically
illogicalness
vsunreason
8.1

A quality of an idea or argument that has no clear, sensible reasons

is more general and points to a basic failure to think logically
illogicality
vsunreason
7.8

A way of thinking that does not follow clear reasons

is broader, covering the general inability to think logically

Antonyms

3.0

The power to think and understand clearly

How Rational

rationality
34 5.4
unreason
1 9.9
illogic
4 8.0

Surface Forms

unreason singular
unreasons plural

Morphology

unreason = reason (transparent) = un + reason

The meaning is a straightforward negation formed by productive prefix 'un-' added to 'reason', yielding 'lack of reason'.

Etymology

Unreason comes from the prefix un- meaning 'not' and the word reason meaning 'careful thinking' or 'good judgment'. So, unreason is the state of 'not thinking clearly' or acting without logic.