Unreason
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Lack of reason or rationality; unreasonableness; irrationality. uncountable, usually
"c. 1566, John Knox, The Historie of the Reformation of the Church of Scotland, Book I, London: 1644, Another day the same Frier made another Sermon of the Abbot of Unreason, unto whom, and whose Laws, he compareth Prelats of that age; for they were subject to no Laws, no more than was the Abbot of Unreason."
- 2 the state of being irrational; lacking powers of understanding wordnet
- 3 Nonsense; folly; absurdity. uncountable, usually
- 1 To prove to be unreasonable; disprove by argument. rare, transitive
"The reason of the unreasonable usage my reason has met with, so unreasons my reason, that I have reason to complain of your beauty :" and how did he enjoy the following flower of composition ! ""
- 2 To apply false logic or think without logic. rare
"After some trouble I have got the Programme, and now send it on to you ; I beg you to transcribe the first ten pages, in which he reasons, or rather unreasons, about homeopathy, and then send the Programme back to me, as I do not know how to procure another copy."
- 3 To make unreasonable; to deprive of reason. rare
"Unbelief unreasons a man: so the Apostle joyns them, when he prays to be delivered from unreasonable men; for all men have not faith."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"The anti-rational, anti-justice and anti-humane Christian malignancy is rearing its head yet again as it leads the fight against homosexuality on behalf of the divine trinity of unreason, injustice and hate."
Etymology
From Middle English unreson; equivalent to un- + reason.
More for "unreason"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.