arbitrary
[ahr-bi-trer-ee]
- subject to individual will or judgment without restriction; contingent solely upon one's discretion: an arbitrary decision.
- decided by a judge or arbiter rather than by a law or statute.
- having unlimited power; uncontrolled or unrestricted by law; despotic; tyrannical: an arbitrary government.
- capricious; unreasonable; unsupported: an arbitrary demand for payment.
- Mathematics. undetermined; not assigned a specific value: an arbitrary constant.
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- arbitraries, Printing. (in Britain) peculiar(def 9).
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Origin of arbitrary
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for arbitrarily
Contemporary Examples
Many of the others were arbitrarily sentenced under similar charges of “acting” or “conspiring” against national security.
In reality, the Iraqi borders had been arbitrarily drawn and disregarded 2,000 years of tribal, sectarian, and nomadic occupation.
If the IRS can target and discriminate against one group of Americans, it can arbitrarily do it to anyone.
Yet the current debate is arbitrarily restricted to the chief public component of the American retirement system, Social Security.
Who wants to leave their cash in an institution that unilaterally and arbitrarily reduces its deposit insurance commitment?
Historical Examples
A mistake; they lack only the right of arbitrarily dismissing the insubordinate.
FreelandTheodor Hertzka
He had arisen to his feet as if arbitrarily to end the argument.
The PlundererRoy Norton
They arbitrarily decide what is, and what is not, in the public interest.
The Invisible GovernmentDan Smoot
But they did not arbitrarily do that which it seemed to them they might have done.
I have invented it, by arbitrarily identifying the moment of its departure.
Fantazius MallareBen Hecht
arbitrary
- founded on or subject to personal whims, prejudices, etc; capricious
- having only relative application or relevance; not absolute
- (of a government, ruler, etc) despotic or dictatorial
- maths not representing any specific valuean arbitrary constant
- law (esp of a penalty or punishment) not laid down by statute; within the court's discretion
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Word Origin
C15: from Latin arbitrārius arranged through arbitration, uncertain
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for arbitrarily
arbitrary
adj.
early 15c., "deciding by one's own discretion," from Old French arbitraire (14c.) or directly from Latin arbitrarius "depending on the will, uncertain," from arbiter (see arbiter). The original meaning gradually descended to "capricious" and "despotic" (1640s). Related: Arbitrarily; arbitrariness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper