arbitrary

Definition

Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.

Etymology

From Middle English arbitrarie, Latin arbitrārius (“arbitrary, uncertain”), from arbiter (“witness, on-looker, listener, judge, overseer”).

Example Sentences

• "Benjamin Franklin's designation of "positive" and "negative" to different charges was arbitrary."
• "The decision to use 18 years as the legal age of adulthood was arbitrary, as both age 17 and 19 were reasonable alternatives."
• "1937/1938, Albert Einstein, letter to Max Born The Russian trials were Stalin's purges, with which he attempted to consolidate his power. Like most people in the West, I believed these show trials to be the arbitrary acts of a cruel dictator."

Related Words