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

• 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

In Herrera, the court argued that clemency was the appropriate avenue for freestanding innocence claims, despite the extreme arbitrariness of pardon decisions.

From Slate • May 29, 2026

Many of the forty people awaiting execution at the federal facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, are there because of arbitrariness, discrimination, or official misconduct in the death penalty system.

From Salon • Dec. 23, 2024

“At best, there’s an arbitrariness to the programs, and at worst, there’s no quality assurance.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 4, 2024

Human beings are strange, though we often don’t like to admit to the arbitrariness of many of our conventions or the contradictions inherent in our behaviors.

From New York Times • Aug. 8, 2023

Initially, one of the most puzzling features of animal domestication is the seeming arbitrariness with which some species have been domesticated while their close relatives have not.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

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