arbitrary

(noun, adjective)

adjective

1. 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

Similar word(s): absolute, capricious, impulsive, whimsical, discretional, discretionary

Sentences with arbitrary as an adjective:

- Benjamin Franklin's designation of "positive" and "negative" to different charges was arbitrary. In fact, electrons flow in the opposite direction to conventional current.

- The decision to use 18 years as the legal age of adulthood was arbitrary, as both age 17 and 19 were reasonable alternatives.

- "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." (Max Born, Letters to Einstein)

- The equation is true for an arbitrary value of x.

noun

1. Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.