rational

CEFRC1

/ˈɹæʃ(ə)nəl/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Based on clear thought and reason rather than emotion.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Logically sound; not self-contradictory or otherwise absurd.

Examples

  • From an objective viewpoint, his argument was far from rational.

  • Parents aren't rational because love isn't rational.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Capable of reasoning.

  2. Behaving according to some partial order of preferences.

  3. Healthy or balanced intellectually; exhibiting reasonableness.

More examples

In context

  • His statements were quite rational.

  • Man is a rational creature.

  • Prevention for the future is now almost universally allowed to be the only rational plea for the infliction of punishment; but this, when left to the arbitrary discretion of individuals, always has been found, and always will be found, to degenerate into the...

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Her decision to save money was blank because she wanted to buy a house.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Old French rationel, rational, from Latin rationalis (“of or belonging to reason, rational, reasonable; having a ratio”), from ratio (“reason; calculation”).