Arbitrary Meaning
/ˈɑː.bɪ.tɹə.ɹi/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjBased on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.
adjDetermined by impulse rather than reason; often connoting heavy-handedness.
Sentence Examples
My mother prefers the arbitrary selection of the lottery machines over my lucky numbers.
Our decision to go to Portugal was quite arbitrary.
The choice of players for the team seemed completely arbitrary.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ decision to ban cell phones during lunch upset many students.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The colors for the new logo were chosen in an ____ way, with no rule.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Latin arbiter Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -ārius Latin arbitrāriusder. Middle English arbitrarie English arbitrary From Middle English arbitrarie, Latin arbitrārius (“arbitrary, uncertain”), from arbiter (“witness, on-looker, listener, judge, overseer”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
—
"The bromide conforms to everything sanctioned by the majority, and may be depended upon to be trite, banal, and arbitrary."
— 1906, Gelett Burgess, Are You a Bromide?:
"And in this long chain of consistence, a chain stretching from the long dead to the far unborn, the notion of the arbitrary could only survive as the notion of a pre-established arbitrary."
— 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ decision to ban cell phones during lunch upset many students.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The colors for the new logo were chosen in an ____ way, with no rule.