Meaning of ARBITRARY
| Pronunciation: | | 'ârbi`treree
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | |
[adj] based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice; "an arbitrary decision"; "the arbitrary rule of a dictator";"an arbitrary penalty"; "of arbitrary size and shape"; "an arbitrary choice"; "arbitrary division of the group into halves" |
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ARBITRARY is a 9 letter word that starts with A. |
| | Synonyms: | | absolute, capricious, discretional, discretionary, impulsive, whimsical |
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| | Antonyms: | | nonarbitrary, unarbitrary | | | |
| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | \Ar"bi*tra*ry\, a. [L. arbitrarius, fr. arbiter: cf.
F. arbitraire. See {Arbiter}.]
1. Depending on will or discretion; not governed by any fixed
rules; as, an arbitrary decision; an arbitrary punishment.
It was wholly arbitrary in them to do so. --Jer.
Taylor.
Rank pretends to fix the value of every one, and is
the most arbitrary of all things. --Landor.
2. Exercised according to one's own will or caprice, and
therefore conveying a notion of a tendency to abuse the
possession of power.
Arbitrary power is most easily established on the
ruins of liberty abused licentiousness.
--Washington.
3. Despotic; absolute in power; bound by no law; harsh and
unforbearing; tyrannical; as, an arbitrary prince or
government. --Dryden.
{Arbitrary constant}, {Arbitrary function} (Math.), a
quantity of function that is introduced into the solution
of a problem, and to which any value or form may at will
be given, so that the solution may be made to meet special
requirements.
{Arbitrary quantity} (Math.), one to which any value can be
assigned at pleasure.
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| Glossary |
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| | Definition: | | a characteristic of language that refers to the fact that a word, or other unit of sound, has no real connection to the thing it refers to. The meanings of the arbitrary elements of a language must be learned. |
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | absolute, absolutist, absolutistic, aristocratic, arrogant, autarchic, authoritarian, authoritative, autocratic, autonomous, bossy, capricious, careless, chance, chancy, cranky, crotchety, despotic, dictatorial, discretional, discretionary, dogmatic, domineering, doubtful, elective, erratic, fanciful, fantasied, fantastic, feudal, flaky, freakish, free, free will, gratuitous, grinding, harebrained, heedless, high-handed, humorsome, iffy, imperative, imperial, imperious, impetuous, inadvertent, inconsiderate, inconsistent, independent, indiscreet, irrational, kinky, kooky, lordly, maggoty, magisterial, magistral, masterful, monocratic, moody, motiveless, nonmandatory, notional, offered, oppressive, optional, oracular, overbearing, overruling, peremptory, petulant, precipitate, proffered, quirky, random, rash, reasonless, repressive, screwball, self-acting, self-active, self-determined, self-determining, severe, spontaneous, strict, subjective, summary, suppressive, temperamental, thoughtless, tyrannical, tyrannous, unasked, unbesought, unbidden, uncalculating, uncalled-for, uncertain, uncoerced, uncompelled, uncompromising, unconstrained, undisciplined, unforced, unguarded, uninfluenced, uninvited, unpredictable, unpressured, unprompted, unreasonable, unreasoning, unreflecting, unrequested, unrequired, unrestrained, unruly, unsolicited, unsought, unthinking, unthoughtful, vagarious, vagrant, varying, voluntary, volunteer, wanton, wayward, whimsical, wild, willful, zany |
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