Word family noun reason reasoning reasonableness adjective reasonable ≠ unreasonable reasoned verb reason adverb reasonably ≠ unreasonably
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishreasonablerea‧son‧a‧ble /ˈriːzənəbəl/ ●●● S1 W2 adjective 1 FAIRSENSIBLEfair and sensible OPP unreasonable a reasonable request Be reasonable – you can’t expect her to do all the work on her own! I thought it was a perfectly reasonable (=completely reasonable) question.it is reasonable to do something It seems reasonable to assume they’ve been tested. He had reasonable grounds (=good reasons but no proof) for believing the law had been broken.a reasonable explanation/excuse It sounded like a reasonable enough excuse to me.► see thesaurus at fair2 GOOD ENOUGHfairly good, but not especially good SYN average She has a reasonable chance of doing well in the exam.► see thesaurus at satisfactory3 QUITE/FAIRLYa reasonable amount is fairly large I’ve got a reasonable amount of money saved.4 GOOD ENOUGHreasonable prices are not too high SYN fair good food at a reasonable price► see thesaurus at cheap5 → beyond (a) reasonable doubt —reasonableness noun [uncountable]COLLOCATIONSadverbsperfectly/entirely reasonable (also eminently reasonable formal) (=completely reasonable)The proposal sounds perfectly reasonable.reasonable enough (=fairly reasonable)It was a reasonable enough question.nounsa reasonable explanation/excuseHe tried to think of a reasonable excuse.a reasonable requestHe had refused to obey a reasonable request from a senior member of staff.a reasonable questionHere is one possible answer to that very reasonable question.a reasonable assumptionIt is a reasonable assumption that he pressed the wrong button.reasonable grounds (=good reasons)She must show that she had some reasonable grounds for her action. Examples from the Corpus
reasonable• Only £15 a night? That sounds reasonable.• It would be expected of him, he said, which to her seemed reasonable.• Teachers need a reasonable amount of time to prepare course work.• They made war look stylish and reasonable, and fun.• Cole accepted that Moe's views were reasonable and valid.• She's usually very reasonable as a boss, but now and again her temper flares up.• It is a reasonable assumption that she knew him well, as she had the keys to his house.• Companies should be allowed to use reasonable bandwidth to market their products.• I thought her request for more information was reasonable, but it was refused.• It guaranteed prices which were, from a retail point of view, very reasonable indeed.• Mason is a reasonable man.• A reasonable number of people turned up for the meeting.• Campaigners say that there is no reasonable objection to women becoming priests.• Be reasonable, Paul - I'm only trying to help.• I'll go along with any reasonable plan.• good quality furniture at reasonable prices• Falling interest rates make it even more important for investors to check that they are getting a reasonable return from their funds.• Here and there the stuffing bulged, but for the most part it was in reasonable shape.• Most of her work is of a reasonable standard.• Had she wanted it, the Loreto Order would certainly have given her a reasonable sum to cover her expenses.• It is reasonable that a prospective employer should want to know if someone has a criminal record.• It's reasonable to assume that most prices will go up again.• Given that the patient smokes 50 cigarette a day, it would be reasonable to assume there is some lung damage.• It is reasonable to assume watching a lot of television at an early age interferes with development.• It is reasonable to expect members to pay a small fee.• Do you think it's reasonable to expect people to work more than 60 hours a week?• Let's try and discuss this in a calm and reasonable way.perfectly reasonable• Tinfoil Barbs would be perfectly reasonable.• To my mind, it was an unreasonable expectation, but to theirs, it was only natural and perfectly reasonable.• It would be perfectly reasonable for the police to check their address and details such as car ownership on the computer.• These are perfectly reasonable questions, after all, you will be paying the bills.• Whatever the cause of the delay, the solicitor should answer your perfectly reasonable request for an explanation.• It would be perfectly reasonable to keep them all in the same genus.• I could be perfectly reasonable up to a point, but Cynthia Kay had gone too far.• She said the news clippings she sent to friends were a perfectly reasonable way to correspond.From Longman Business Dictionaryreasonablerea‧son‧a‧ble /ˈriːzənəbəl/ adjective1fair and sensibleThe company maintained that its bills were reasonable.The restaurant sells good food at reasonable prices (=prices that are not too high).The law requires the employer to take ‘reasonable’ steps to accommodate disability.2a reasonable amount is fairly largeI’ve got a reasonable amount of money saved. 