arbitrarily
Americanadverb
-
based on the judgment or will of an individual.
The Fourth Amendment protects my right to not be arbitrarily searched.
-
without an apparent reason or pattern; randomly; capriciously.
There is no need to stop living life to its fullest simply because we have reached some arbitrarily set age for what broader society calls “retirement.”
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of arbitrarily
Explanation
Something said or done arbitrarily is done randomly or without much thought — like when you arbitrarily eat whatever happens to be on the buffet table at your cousin's wedding. The adverb arbitrarily describes something that's done haphazardly, based on random chance or on your own whim of the moment. If you go to a movie and know nothing about anything that's playing, you might arbitrarily choose one — based on the titles, the look of the posters, or on nothing at all. When there's not much reason behind your actions, they're done arbitrarily.
Vocabulary lists containing arbitrarily
Lincoln Inaugural Address (March 1861)
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The Freedom of Information Act (2016)
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The Martian
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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.
England acquired such institutions with the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 after which the king could no longer suspend laws, raise taxes without the consent of Parliament, or arbitrarily confiscate private property.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
I’ve read criticisms of the Doomsday Clock, that it’s gimmicky, like it’s arbitrarily trying to measure something that can’t be defined so easily.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
"You're able to do two things that are normally not compatible with one another: Use entanglement to build an exquisitely sensitive sensor but also have robustness to arbitrarily large amounts of noise," Clerk said.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2026
The travel advisory issued last week says visitors may be arbitrarily denied entry to the country, detained in “inhumane” conditions or subjected to invasive phone and social media searches.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
This shows that, indeed, Achilles is getting arbitrarily close to the two-foot mark as the race progresses: two feet is the limit of the race.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
