Rationalization Meaning
/ˌræʃ(ə)n(ə)laɪˈzeɪʃn̩/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe process or result of rationalizing, or expressing in rational terms.
nounA statement of one's motives, or of the causes of some event.
Sentence Examples
The rationalization of the industry took several years to finish.
I didn't want to hear his endless and weak rationalization.
The company underwent a major rationalization to reduce operating costs.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
When caught cheating, he used ____ to claim it was a common practice.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
His ____ of the poor decision involved blaming external factors rather than his own judgment.
Word Origin & History
First attested in 1831. From French rationalisation, equivalent to rational + -ization or rationalize + -ation.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But, he insisted, he was neither a “Union Saver” nor a “freedom shrieker.” He rejected all high-flown rationalizations for the war effort — “to hell with the devilish twaddle about freedom.”"
— 2014 October 17, Daniel W. Crofts, “What Union Soldiers Thought About the Civil War”, in The New York Times:
"After every shooting, blame and rationalizations fly. I know, because I was shot in the head at a 2011 congressional event near my home in Tucson, Ariz. Eighteen other people were shot at that event, six of whom died."
— 2024 September 16, Gabrielle Giffords, “Gabby Giffords: It’s the Guns. It’s Always the Guns.”, in The New York Times:
"For socialism involves the reconstruction of industry upon the principle of production for use. It involves the rationalization of industry, the proper adjustment of production to the social requirements."
— 1915 May 26, John Spargo, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, volume 59, page 160:
"The former, technical rationalisation, is a question of improvements carried out within businesses by the managers, methods like scientific management, the rapidity with which machinery is scrapped, the supervision of labour, by the stop-watch method or any other method, and generally what we economists have been in the habit of calling "internal economies.""
— 1930 September 26, Ian MacGregor, “Problems of Rationalisation”, in The Economic Journal, volume 40, number 159, page 351:
"Rationalization includes partnership ventures, and if approved would mean capacity reductions in both sectors with thousands of steelworkers' jobs affected."
— 1980 December 10, “Steel industry changes sought”, in The Times, number 60798, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
When caught cheating, he used ____ to claim it was a common practice.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
His ____ of the poor decision involved blaming external factors rather than his own judgment.