discretionary
Americanadjective
-
subject or left to one's own discretion.
-
for any use or purpose one chooses; not earmarked for a particular purpose.
discretionary income; a discretionary fund.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- discretionarily adverb
- nondiscretionary adjective
Etymology
Origin of discretionary
First recorded in 1690–1700; discretion + -ary
Explanation
Discretionary means it's up to you to decide. Bathing regularly is a discretionary act, so you can opt not to do it if you want; note, however, that your friends might disagree with us on this. Discretionary is often used to describe money that isn’t designated for a particular purpose. It’s up to the people in charge to decide how discretionary funds should be spent. Discretionary comes from the word discretion, which can be used to mean “the right to decide something based on one’s own judgment.” If you're given a task to complete at your discretion, you can decide how you want to do it — or whether you want to do it at all.
Vocabulary lists containing discretionary
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
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Just Mercy
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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.
Higher oil prices are soaking up more of their discretionary funds.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026
A special-needs trust is also a specialized, discretionary trust, but one that is designed to provide for a beneficiary with a disability without disqualifying them from government benefits like Medicaid or Social Security Disability Insurance.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026
That would bode well for consumer discretionary stocks in particular.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
In investor terms, it looks a lot more attractive than hoping for a rebound in discretionary big-ticket spending tied to the property market.
From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026
Spoade was the world’s champion sitter-around, no holds barred and gouging discretionary.
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
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.
