How to Use rhyme or reason in a Sentence

rhyme or reason

noun
  • The item seems to drop from the sky without rhyme or reason.
    Lou Cysewski, Forbes, 10 Aug. 2022
  • But, whether there’s rhyme or reason to it, he’s been clutch.
    Nathan Ruiz, Baltimore Sun, 1 Sep. 2023
  • There just doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason about who made it and who didn’t.
    Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Aug. 2021
  • Herrera said there’s no rhyme or reason to when the area gets busy.
    Kelli Smith, Dallas News, 27 Sep. 2021
  • There was no rhyme or reason for it except to do an art thing.
    al, 20 Apr. 2020
  • There is no apparent rhyme or reason to the fine amounts.
    David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 20 Sep. 2021
  • Meanwhile, there’s hardly any rhyme or reason to the cast.
    Peter Debruge, Variety, 14 Mar. 2023
  • There were too few ball fakes or rhyme or reason to the Irish offense for long stretches.
    Tom Noie, The Indianapolis Star, 30 Nov. 2020
  • There seems to be no rhyme or reason to our curated reels.
    Jennifer Senior, The Atlantic, 9 Aug. 2021
  • The dropout issues have vexed Ryzen customers for months, with no seeming rhyme or reason for the cause.
    Gordon Mah Ung, PCWorld, 12 Mar. 2021
  • There seems to be little rhyme or reason to today's stars.
    Tarot Astrologers, chicagotribune.com, 23 Dec. 2021
  • With the exception of the shelves on which my own novels sit, there is no rhyme or reason to the location of the books.
    New York Times, 19 Aug. 2021
  • Often, there doesn’t seem to be much of a rhyme or reason to the way random movies seem to rocket up the streamer’s list.
    Andy Meek, BGR, 4 May 2022
  • To Coates-Clark, the increase appeared to come without rhyme or reason.
    Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 13 Sep. 2023
  • There’s no rhyme or reason to his choices, just whatever moves him on the day.
    Michael Sykes, USA TODAY, 21 Nov. 2022
  • There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for its decisions.
    Helen Ubiñas, Philly.com, 11 Sep. 2017
  • There’s no rhyme or reason to the other results in the conference.
    Rex Nelson, Arkansas Online, 11 Oct. 2022
  • There’s simply not much rhyme or reason to their actions at times.
    Jeremy Woo, SI.com, 23 May 2018
  • There seems to be little rhyme or reason to what gets deranked and what doesn’t.
    Constance Grady, Vox, 31 Mar. 2018
  • There's no rhyme or reason, but you suddenly get hit by it.
    Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 1 Aug. 2023
  • But even those who had no real rhyme or reason to party found an excuse to strike a pose.
    Maria Ward, Vogue, 28 Oct. 2017
  • A number of tiger sharks have washed up dead on the shores of Western Australia without rhyme or reason.
    Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY, 21 July 2023
  • But in this particular case there was just no rhyme or reason for it ...
    CBS News, 29 June 2019
  • There doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason for the edits apart from maybe the relative size or placement of the cigarette on the poster.
    Vulture, 13 Sep. 2022
  • With this being your second adaptation in a row, is there any rhyme or reason to that?
    Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Jan. 2023
  • There’s not always a rhyme or reason when a player struggles, Boone added.
    Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 17 Apr. 2024
  • Because of that, there isn’t any rhyme or reason about what to prioritize and when.
    Evan Nicole Brown, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Dec. 2022
  • There is no rhyme or reason as to why — real estate doesn’t always make sense.
    Alyssa Shelasky, Curbed, 12 Oct. 2022
  • There's no rhyme or reason, and makeup artist Deanna Paley agrees with me.
    Sarah Han, Allure, 14 Sep. 2021
  • Or hop from one number to another without rhyme or reason, following a chaotic, unpredictable path.
    Quanta Magazine, 26 Jan. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rhyme or reason.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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