unreasonableness

A customer expresses his unreasonableness to the store manager.

Definition

• Noun: The quality or state of being unreasonable; lack of reason, logic, or fairness in thought, action, or demand.

Usage Examples

• (The landlord's lack of fairness or logic caused distress.)
• (His refusal to be rational or fair blocked compromise.)
• (The excessive or illogical nature of the cost was surprising.)

Advanced Usage

• "to test someone's unreasonableness": to deliberately provoke or challenge a person's lack of reason.

  • The negotiator decided to test the client's unreasonableness by offering a fair compromise. (He wanted to see if the client would reject logic.)

• "an act of unreasonableness": a specific behaviour or decision that shows a lack of reason.

  • Firing the employee for a minor mistake was an act of unreasonableness. (The dismissal was unfair and illogical.)

Variants and Related Words

• Unreasonable (adj): not guided by reason; excessive or unfair.

  • It is unreasonable to expect a child to work for twelve hours. (The expectation is not fair or logical.)

• Reasonableness (n): the quality of being fair, sensible, and logical (opposite of unreasonableness).

  • The judge praised the defendant's reasonableness in accepting the settlement. (The defendant showed fairness and logic.)

Synonyms

• Irrationality: the state of being illogical or not based on reason.
• Absurdity: something that is wildly unreasonable or ridiculous.
• Foolishness: lack of good sense or judgment.

Related Idioms

• "Beyond reason": so extreme that it cannot be explained or justified by logic.

  • The boss's demands were beyond reason — he wanted us to finish a week's work in one day. (The demands were completely unreasonable.)

• "No rhyme or reason": without any logical or sensible explanation.

  • There was no rhyme or reason to his sudden anger. (His anger had no logical cause.)