rationalist

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“For us to conclude that a law of 160 years’ vintage, with this kind of empirical pedigree, has all along been both unnecessary and improper, would border on rationalist conceit.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

Intriguingly, a few informal but large surveys from the rationalist community suggest that both complete monogamy and complete polyamory tend to be more satisfying than the “monogamish” middle ground.

From Slate • May 5, 2024

The same contradictions that marked his father’s life went even deeper in Mr. Nashenas’s own: a secular man in a profoundly religious family; a rationalist in a society trapped in tribal ways.

From New York Times • Nov. 9, 2023

Mr Shastri burst into the national limelight in January, after a well-known rationalist questioned his claims that he had healing powers and could read people's minds.

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2023

There is a puzzle here, because the standard alternative to voluntarism is rationalism, and a rationalist would hold that the laws of nature, like the laws of mathematics, exist because they are necessary.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton