rationalize away

1. 1.

   substitute a natural for a supernatural explanation of

   “you can rationalize away all the strange noises you hear--there is no poltergeist in the house!”

   Synonymsrationalise away

   Broaderreason

Questions about rationalize away

What does rationalize away mean?

rationalize away means "substitute a natural for a supernatural explanation of".

What is another word for rationalize away?

Close synonyms include rationalise away. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is rationalize away a common word?

rationalize away is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.