Etymologically
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unreasonable

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ʌnˈɹiːz.(ə)nə.bl̩/[1]

Etymology

It was formed from English un- + reasonable in English,[2][3][4][5][6] at first partly after the post-classical Latin adjective irrationabilis.[2] Middle English spelled it unresonable, with many variant spellings.[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not having the faculty of reason, said of animals or people: about 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible,[2][8] and mid-14th century in Etymonline, which glosses the first use as irrational, not grounded in reason.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Within a few years the word was used of what goes beyond the limits of the sensible, excessive in amount or degree, first in Trevisa's Polychronicon (before 1387),[2][3] and of ideas and actions not guided by good sense, in Gower (before 1393).[2] Of a person behaving irrationally it is recorded from about 1400 in the Cursor Mundi.[2] A sense "unfair, unjustifiable" lasted from about 1440 to 1741.[2] Johnson (1755) gave its first sense as "exorbitant; claiming more than is fit", quoting Dryden's view that it would be unreasonable to limit a translator to the narrow compass of his author's words.[9] The sense "not endowed with reason", as in unreasonable beasts, is now rare.[5][4] An adverbial use, meaning excessively, appeared in 1535 and is now rare too.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – lacking the faculty of reason.[2]
  • a1387 – excessive.[2][3]
  • a1393 – not guided by good sense; illogical.[2]
  • a1400 – of a person, acting irrationally.[2]
  • c. 1440 – unfair, unjustifiable (obsolete by 1741).[2]
  • 1535 – the adverb, excessively.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Not guided by reason or good sense; refusing to listen to reason: The manager was being completely unreasonable about the deadline.
  2. Going beyond what is fair or sensible; excessive: an unreasonable rent.
  3. (archaic) Not having the faculty of reason.

Word family

  • unreasonableness
  • unreasonably

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.