reasonable

English

Etymology

From Middle English resonable, from Old French resnable, from Late Latin rationabilis, from Latin ratio; more at reason, -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹiː.zən.ə.bəl/, /ˈɹiːz.nə.bəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: rea‧son‧able

Adjective

reasonable (comparative more reasonable, superlative most reasonable)

1. (now rare) Having the faculty of reason; rational, reasoning.
   • 1634, William Wood, New Englands Prospect, I:

     The wiſdome and underſtanding of this Beaſt, will almoſt conclude him a reaſonable creature […].

2. Just; fair; agreeable to reason.
   • 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[1]:

     The episode also opens with an inspired bit of business for Homer, who blithely refuses to acquiesce to an elderly neighbor’s utterly reasonable request that he help make the process of selling her house easier by wearing pants when he gallivants about in front of windows […].

3. Not excessive or immoderate; within due limits; proper.

   a reasonable demand, amount, or price

4. Not expensive; fairly priced.

   $20 a bottle is very reasonable for a good wine at a restaurant.

   Say, would you happen to know a good place for lunch in the downtown area? ... The Radisson ... Oh yah? ... Is it reasonable? - Marge Gunderson in Fargo (1996)

5. Satisfactory.

   The builders did a reasonable job, given the short notice.

Synonyms

• reasonous

Antonyms

• arbitrary
• unreasonable

Derived terms

• reasonably
• reasonability
• reasonableness

Translations

just; fair; agreeable to reason

• Albanian: arsyeshëm (sq)
• Arabic: مَعْقُول‎ (ar) (maʿqūl)
• Armenian: ողջամիտ (hy) (ołǰamit)
• Asturian: razonable
• Belarusian: разу́мны (razúmny)
• Bulgarian: разу́мен (bg) (razúmen), приемлив (bg) (priemliv)
• Catalan: raonable
• Czech: rozumný (cs)
• Finnish: kunnollinen (fi)
• French: correct (fr), juste (fr), raisonnable (fr)
• Galician: razoable (gl), razoábel (gl)
• German: vernünftig (de)
• Greek: δικαιολογημένος (el) (dikaiologiménos), τίμιος (el) (tímios), λογικός (el) (logikós)
• Hungarian: észszerű (hu)

• Irish: réasúnta, ciallmhar
• Italian: ragionevole (it)
• Latin: modicus
• Norman: raisonnabl'ye
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rimelig (no), fornuftig (no)

  Nynorsk: rimeleg, fornuftig

• Occitan: rasonable (oc)
• Polish: uzasadniony (pl)
• Portuguese: razoável (pt), sensato (pt)
• Romanian: rezonabil (ro)
• Russian: разу́мный (ru) (razúmnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: reusanta, cothromach
• Spanish: razonable (es)
• Swedish: rimlig (sv)
• Turkish: makul (tr)

inexpensive

• Albanian: arsyeshëm (sq)
• Arabic: مَعْقُول‎ (ar) (maʿqūl)
• Bulgarian: умерен (bg) (umeren)
• Czech: rozumný (cs)
• Finnish: kohtuullinen (fi)
• German: vernünftig (de), anständig (de)
• Greek: οφειλόμενος (el) (ofeilómenos), τίμιος (el) (tímios), λογικός (el) (logikós)
• Hungarian: méltányos árú / áron elérhető
• Italian: moderato (it)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rimelig (no)

  Nynorsk: rimeleg

• Polish: rozsądny (pl)
• Portuguese: em conta (pt)
• Romanian: rezonabil (ro)
• Russian: недорого́й (ru) (nedorogój), за разу́мную це́ну (za razúmnuju cénu)
• Spanish: módico (es)

satisfactory

• Albanian: arsyeshëm (sq)
• Bulgarian: удовлетворителен (bg) (udovletvoritelen)
• Czech: rozumný (cs)
• Finnish: sopiva (fi), joltinenkin, järkeenkäypä
• French: satisfaisant (fr)
• German: vernünftig (de), anständig (de)
• Greek: ευάρεστος (el) (evárestos), λογικός (el) (logikós)
• Hungarian: elfogadható (hu)

• Norwegian: fornuftig (no)
• Polish: satysfakcjonujący
• Portuguese: satisfatório (pt)
• Romanian: satisfăcător (ro)
• Russian: удовлетвори́тельный (ru) (udovletvorítelʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: reusanta

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Greek: ^{(please verify)} εύλογος (el) (évlogos), ^{(please verify)} λογικευόμενος (logikevómenos), ^{(please verify)} αιτιολογημένος (el) (aitiologiménos), ^{(please verify)} επάξιος (el) (epáxios), ^{(please verify)} ικανοποιητικός (el) (ikanopoiitikós), ^{(please verify)} δίκαιος (el) (díkaios), ^{(please verify)} έντιμος (el) (éntimos)