arbitrator
Americannoun
-
arbitrators
plural
Usage
What is an arbitrator? An arbitrator is an independent, impartial third party that works to settle a dispute between two opposing sides, often by making a decision that they both agree to. This process is called arbitration. For a process to be considered arbitration, it must involve an arbitrator, which can be a single person or a team of people. To act as an arbitrator is to arbitrate. Arbitrate can also mean to try to settle a dispute through arbitration, as in If we can’t come to an agreement, we may need to arbitrate. The terms arbitrator and arbitration are especially used in the context of negotiations between businesses and labor unions. When the two sides can’t agree and negotiations are unproductive, they may seek to pursue arbitration by bringing in an arbitrator. An arbitration process in which the arbitrator’s decision must be accepted by both parties is sometimes called binding arbitration—meaning the arbitrator’s decision is final and legally binding. Example: After weeks of negotiations stalled and resulted in an impasse, the two sides agreed to bring in an arbitrator.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of arbitrator
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English arbitratour, from Late Latin, from Latin arbitrātor; equivalent to arbitrate + -tor
Compare meaning
How does arbitrator compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An arbitrator is someone who helps resolve a dispute. If you and your sibling are butting heads over whose turn it is to clean the bathroom, you may need the assistance of an arbitrator. In legal terms, an arbitrator is the impartial judge of a case settled outside of a courtroom. Their job is to carefully consider both sides and make a decision, without the expense and time involved in going before an actual judge or jury. As a neutral decider whose decision is authoritative, an umpire or referee is another good example of an arbitrator. The Latin root of arbitrator is arbiter, "judge."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On Thursday, an independent arbitrator ordered the newspaper to reinstate Attiah and restore her wages and benefits after she was fired in September for a social media post following the Turning Point USA co-founder’s death.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
An independent arbitrator ordered the Washington Post to reinstate Karen Attiah, finding the newspaper wrongly terminated the columnist over comments she made following the shooting death of Charlie Kirk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
He also has been ordered by an arbitrator to pay $1.34 billion to Laguna Beach real estate mogul Mohammad Honarkar in a separate civil fraud case.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Last week, an arbitrator overturned that decision and ordered the school to reinstate the tenured professor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Martial law enabled the army to assume the functions of arbitrator in the controversy, but no effort at conciliation was made.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Healthcare providers have complained that insurers don’t always pay out the amounts that arbitrators award.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
But the bank said arbitrators punished it for “truthfully advising the investing community about Bodner’s misconduct, while rewarding a wrongdoer whose claims would fail as a matter of law in any other forum.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
The court will re-examine the case, typically with a panel of three arbitrators who go over the evidence and can either uphold, overturn, or modify the ban given out by the FA.
From BBC ● May 1, 2026
The decisions reached in arbitration are often secret, and arbitrators are not usually required to write the sorts of publicly available opinions justifying the reasons for their decisions in the way that courts must.
From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2026
To hear and decide, as arbitrators; as, to choose to arbitrate a disputed case.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Noah Webster
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
