 3 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
arbitrary
adjective: 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" [ant: {nonarbitrary}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Arbitrary \Ar"bi*tra*ry\, adjective [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.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
133 Moby Thesaurus words for "arbitrary":
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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