arbitrary
adjective
ar·bi·trary
| \ ˈär-bə-ˌtrer-ē
, -ˌtre-rē\
, -ˌtre-rē\
Definition of arbitrary
1a
: existing or coming about seemingly at random or by chance or as a capricious and unreasonable act of will
an arbitrary choice When a task is not seen in a meaningful context it is experienced as being arbitrary.— Nehemiah Jordan
b
: based on or determined by individual preference or convenience rather than by necessity or the intrinsic nature of something
an arbitrary standard take any arbitrary positive number
2a
: not restrained or limited in the exercise of power : ruling by absolute authority
an arbitrary government
b
: marked by or resulting from the unrestrained and often tyrannical exercise of power
protection from arbitrary arrest and detention
3
law
: depending on individual discretion (as of a judge) and not fixed by law
The manner of punishment is arbitrary.
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Other Words from arbitrary
arbitrarily
\ ˌär-bə-ˈtrer-ə-lē
, -ˈtre-rə- \
adverb
, -ˈtre-rə- \
adverb
arbitrariness
\ ˈär-bə-ˌtrer-ē-nəs
, -ˌtre-rē- \
noun
, -ˌtre-rē- \
noun
Synonyms for arbitrary
Synonyms
dictatorial, high-handed, imperious, peremptory, willful (or wilful)
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Examples of arbitrary in a Sentence
U.S. News was revealed to have considered assigning in its next rankings an arbitrary SAT score to Sarah Lawrence College because the school no longer collects applicants' scores.
— Julie Rawe, Time, 2 Apr. 2007
Darwin's emphasis on how populations gradually change gave the notion of species a more arbitrary quality: Species had whatever boundaries taxonomists chose. The idea of a species as a population of individuals that breed mostly with each other comes from 20th-century theorists.
— S. Milius, Science News, 25 Mar. 2006
The Marriage Act certainly employed arbitrary and draconian means. It forced all couples to marry between 8 am and 12 noon, according to the rites of the established Church of England, in one of their respective local parish churches.
— David Johnson, History Today, November 2003
Two days after President Lincoln issued the first version of his Emancipation Proclamation, he suspended the right of habeas corpus for anyone accused of resisting the draft or discouraging enlistment. Hundreds of civilians were arrested, some for good reasons, some for entirely arbitrary and personal ones.
— Michael Lesy, Double Take, Spring 2001
An arbitrary number has been assigned to each district.
I don't know why I chose that one; it was a completely arbitrary decision.
Although arbitrary arrests are illegal, they continue to occur in many parts of the country.
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Recent Examples on the Web
The record, whether carved in stone or bits of data, is arbitrary in the extreme. — Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, "The Elusive Price—and Prize—of Fame on the Internet," 20 Aug. 2019 Grouping all people 65 to 100 into one category is arbitrary and doesn’t show the diversity that exists among older adults. — Hermine Saunders, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, "Saunders: Plenty of time to make our age number valuable and our lives meaningful," 9 Aug. 2019 Viewed objectively, the US standards on currency manipulation are arbitrary. — Jeffrey Sachs For Cnn Business Perspectives, CNN, "China isn't the economic manipulator in this trade war. Trump is," 6 Aug. 2019 Cosby’s lawyers called the decision to let five testify at the retrial arbitrary and prejudicial. — Time, "An Ebola Drug Trial Ended Early Because It Was So Successful. That Could Change How Doctors Handle Future Outbreaks," 13 Aug. 2019 Cosby’s lawyers called the decision to let five testify at the retrial arbitrary and prejudicial. — Washington Post, "Cosby lawyers ask appeals court to toss #MeToo conviction," 12 Aug. 2019 Lacking any familiarity with the structure of their language, people find linguistic rubrics arbitrary and unreasonable. — Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, "Semantic Drift," 22 July 2019 This is breaking new legal ground because never before has the Court held an agency decision arbitrary and capricious because its supporting rationale was pretextual. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "The Contradictions of John Roberts," 27 June 2019 No wonder so many students come to see math as an inhuman, meaningless collection of arbitrary rules and procedures. — Steven Strogatz, New York Times, "The Math Equation That Tried to Stump the Internet," 2 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'arbitrary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for arbitrary
arbitrary
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of arbitrary
: not planned or chosen for a particular reason : not based on reason or evidence
: done without concern for what is fair or right
See the full definition for arbitrary in the English Language Learners Dictionary
arbitrary
adjective
ar·bi·trary
| \ ˈär-bə-ˌtrer-ē
\
\
Kids Definition of arbitrary
1
: made, chosen, or acting without thought of what is fair or right
arbitrary decisions an arbitrary ruler
2
: seeming to have been made or chosen by chance
We were given an arbitrary list of books to choose from.