Free translatorFree translator
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Irrational   /ɪrˈæʃənəl/   Listen
adjective
irrational  adj.  
1.
Not rational; void of reason or understanding; as, brutes are irrational animals.
2.
Not according to reason; having no rational basis; clearly contrary to reason; easily disproved by reasoning; absurd; of assertions and beliefs. Hence, of actions: Foolish; unreasonable. "It seemed utterly irrational any longer to maintain it."
3.
(Math.) Not capable of being exactly expressed by an integral number, nor by a ratio of integral numbers; surd; said especially of roots. See Surd.
Synonyms: Absurd; foolish; preposterous; unreasonable; senseless. See Absurd.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |





"Irrational" Quotes from Famous Books



... say who is the "funkiest" oarsman before a race that I know. I mean by "funk," not the under-estimating of one's chances—for some of the most nervous men have a very shrewd idea of them—but the irrational excitement which keeps the brain constantly thinking of the impending race, and prevents the sufferer from sitting still or having any comfort, or, in the most serious cases, any sleep, for two or three days before it. It is a real malady, which is most distressing to those who are subject ...
— The Idler Magazine, Volume III, March 1893 - An Illustrated Monthly • Various

... usually considered a harmless creature, or of that class of irrational bipeds who hurt only themselves. To such, however, I would not advise trusting too much. The bore is harmless, no doubt, as long as you listen to him; but disregarded, or stopped in mid-career, he will turn upon you. It is a fatal, ...
— Tales & Novels, Vol. IX - [Contents: Harrington; Thoughts on Bores; Ormond] • Maria Edgeworth

... correcting the erroneous reference of the Translator, I can find no such case alluded to in the chapter. But Caelius Aurelianus mentions two modes of treatment employed by Asclepiades, into both of which the use of wine entered, as being "in the highest degree irrational and dangerous." [Caelius Aurel. De Morb. Acut. et Chron. lib. I. cap. xv. ...
— Medical Essays • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

... he saith in favour of some Popish doctrines, above what some other learned Protestants have said, is not so much by way of assertion or justification of them, as to shew what reasons they may justly be thought to proceed upon, and so not to be go irrational or impious as they are ordinarily accounted; and this only in order to the peace of the christian world, that we may have as much charity to others and not as high animosities, live with all men as sweetly and amicably, and peaceably, and not as bitterly as is possible, ...
— The Life of Hugo Grotius • Charles Butler

... Berganza; and what makes the miracle greater is, that we not only speak but hold intelligent discourse, as though we had souls capable of reason; whereas we are so far from having it, that the difference between brutes and man consists in this, that man is a rational animal and the brute is irrational. ...
— The Exemplary Novels of Cervantes • Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra


More quotes...



Copyright © 2024 Free Translator.org