Meaning | Based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice. |
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Examples | - "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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Narrower | absolute | not limited by law |
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capricious, impulsive, whimsical | Determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason |
discretionary, discretional | Having or using the ability to act or decide according to your own discretion or judgment |
Opposite | nonarbitrary, unarbitrary | not subject to individual determination |
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Spanish | arbitrario |
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Catalan | arbitrari |
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Nouns | arbitrariness | the trait of acting unpredictably and more from whim or caprice than from reason or judgment |
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