To justify an immoral act, or illogicalbehaviour. “The process of thought by which one justifies a discreditable act, and by which one offers to oneself and the world a better motive for one's action than the true motive”
“I just remember my shock when he tried to rationalize his decision to isolate himself from all of us.”
“So I proceeded to rationalize my answer to these questions by responding that a donation would be like using the money to buy stocks or provide venture capital for a business.”
“The book lauds quartermaster-general Alexander Lawton's efforts to rationalize the procurement process.”
rationalised
simple past tense and past participle of rationalise
“Jason toys with his guilt, rationalizes it, checkmates it before it can trap him.”
“Use, rather than metalinguistic acknowledgement, rationalizes these aspects of language, and a sense of aesthetic accomplishment arises through employing them.”
“Talisse's real target, however, is not Rawls's solution, but rather the justificatory pessimism that rationalizes it.”
rationalized
simple past tense and past participle of rationalize