Definition of Arbitrary

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Arbitrary

Depending on will or discretion; not governed by any fixed rules; as, an arbitrary decision; an arbitrary punishment.

Exercised according to one's own will or caprice, and therefore conveying a notion of a tendency to abuse the possession of power.

Despotic; absolute in power; bound by no law; harsh and unforbearing; tyrannical; as, an arbitrary prince or government.

Related Definitions:

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Arbitrary Quotations

Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.
George Washington

The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired.
Stephen Hawking

Suffering by nature or chance never seems so painful as suffering inflicted on us by the arbitrary will of another.
Arthur Schopenhauer

If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.
Margaret Mead

It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age.
Margaret Mead

Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.
John Quincy Adams

If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.
Maria Montessori

The only obligation to which in advance we may hold a novel, without incurring the accusation of being arbitrary, is that it be interesting.
Henry James

Arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken.
Abigail Adams

All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.
Marshall McLuhan

Arbitrary Translations

arbitrary in Dutch is willekeurig, arbitrair, eigenmachtig
arbitrary in Finnish is mielivaltainen
arbitrary in French is arbitraire
arbitrary in Italian is arbitrario
arbitrary in Spanish is arbitrario
arbitrary in Swedish is godtycklig

Quotes