arbitrary: Meaning and Definition of

ar•bi•trar•y

Pronunciation: (är'bi-trer"ē), [key]
— adj., n., pl. -trar•ies.
—adj.
  1. subject to individual will or judgment without restriction; contingent solely upon one's discretion: an arbitrary decision.
  2. decided by a judge or arbiter rather than by a law or statute.
  3. having unlimited power; uncontrolled or unrestricted by law; despotic; tyrannical: an arbitrary government.
  4. capricious; unreasonable; unsupported: an arbitrary demand for payment.
  5. undetermined; not assigned a specific value: an arbitrary constant.
—n.
  1. Print. (in Britain) peculiar (def. 9).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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