rationalize

/ˈræʃənəlaɪz/
verb
  1. To try to find logical reasons to explain or justify behavior, thoughts, or feelings, especially when the real reasons are less acceptable.
    • She rationalized eating the whole cake by telling herself she had had a hard day.
    • Don't rationalize your bad habits; just admit you need to change.
    • He tried to rationalize his decision to quit by saying the job was too stressful.
  2. To make a company, system, or process more efficient by removing unnecessary parts or simplifying it.
    • The new CEO plans to rationalize the company's supply chain to reduce costs.
    • The school district decided to rationalize its bus routes to save fuel.
    • They rationalized the software by eliminating redundant features.
  3. In mathematics, to eliminate radicals or irrational numbers from the denominator of a fraction.
    • To rationalize 3/√5, you multiply the numerator and denominator by √5.
    • The teacher showed them how to rationalize expressions involving cube roots.
    • The students learned how to rationalize the denominator of a fraction with a square root.
Antonyms