arbitrariness

American  

[ahr-bi-trer-ee-nis] / ˈɑr bɪˌtrɛr i nɪs /

noun

1. the quality of being subject to an individual’s will, judgment, discretion, or personal preference.

   Of course none of this makes sense; it just shows the arbitrariness and subjectivity of what's considered obscene.

   Students need to recognize that there is a certain arbitrariness in any ranking, and be less concerned about whether a school has moved up or down slightly in any given year.

2. the quality of having no apparent reason or pattern; randomness.

   These inconsistencies show the arbitrariness, incongruity, and unreliability of what gets remembered.

3. the state or quality of being uncontrolled or unrestricted by law; tyranny.

   When red tape serves only the organization itself, the rule of law can easily turn into arbitrariness.

   The real burden on the peasants was the arbitrariness of the autocratic form of government.

4. Linguistics, Semiotics. (of words or language) the quality of having no correspondence between the sounds or form of a word and the form, function, or meaning of the thing being denoted.

   The arbitrariness of words is absolute because words are abstractions.

5. Mathematics. the quality of being undetermined, or not having been assigned a specific value.

   The arbitrariness of ε concludes the proof for that case.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonarbitrariness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of arbitrariness

arbitrary ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Explanation

If you get detention Monday for not eating peaches, Tuesday for not wearing a top hat, and Wednesday for not walking backward, you might complain about the arbitrariness of the rules, which are random, unpredictable, and without reason. We often associate arbitrariness with dictators who make up laws and dish out punishments based on their moods or their desperate attempts to stay in power. At the same time, parents demonstrate a kind of arbitrariness when they answer the question "why not?" with "Because I said so!" To avoid arbitrariness, people make decisions based on consistency, reason, order, and predictability.

Example Sentences

"Arbitrariness," she concludes, "pervades the entirety of the Guantánamo detention infrastructure," leading to a persistent lack of predictability in treatment.

From Salon • Aug. 13, 2023

Arbitrariness is in the nature of a code with brackets.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Arbitrariness, injustice, inequality, are inseparable from the taille when any change of collector takes place."

From The Ancient Regime by Durand, John

Arbitrariness and carelessness of transcriber have disfigured Ibn Moqaffa's work of art just because it presently became a favourite book of entertainment.

From Iranian Influence on Moslem Literature, Part I by Nariman, G. K. (Gushtaspshah Kaikhushro)

Arbitrariness and severity were foreign to his nature, but all knew that the standards of conduct and study must be maintained.

From Charles Lewis Cocke Founder of Hollins College by Smith, William Robert Lee

Related Words

• bigotry
• extremism
• hatred
• intolerance
• zeal
• zealotry