Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In an arbitrary manner; at will; capriciously; without sufficient reason; in an irresponsible or despotic way.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In an arbitrary manner; by will only; despotically; absolutely.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In an arbitrary manner.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in a random manner

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

arbitrary +‎ -ly

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Examples

  • It is worth remembering that mine is still the only "official" Parliamentary game a title arbitrarily bestowed on myself, as I ran a Parliamentary Fantasy League last season and of course ran a Parliamentary World Cup so please do ensure you register using the code here before playing.

    A Rival Parliamentary Fantasy Football League Kerron Cross 2006

  • But in the law of war, according to the courts, killing arbitrarily is okay; capturing arbitrarily is not.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Defamation by Government Still Political Question 2010

  • But in the law of war, according to the courts, killing arbitrarily is okay; capturing arbitrarily is not.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Defamation by Government Still Political Question 2010

  • They seem to feel that a symbol is some mysterious thing put in arbitrarily by the writer to frighten the common reader — sort of a literary Masonic grip that is only for the initiated …

    Flannery O’Connor on the Purpose of Symbols in Fiction … Quote of the Day #14 « One-Minute Book Reviews 2007

  • They seem to feel that a symbol is some mysterious thing put in arbitrarily by the writer to frighten the common reader — sort of a literary Masonic grip that is only for the initiated …

    2007 March 21 « One-Minute Book Reviews 2007

  • Associated Press Tony Kushner The more carefully I scrutinized the press release announcing that Mr. Kushner was to be the first recipient of "the Mimi," to use the nickname arbitrarily bestowed upon the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award by its creators, the more puzzled I became.

    Payday for Tony Kushner 2008

  • The only vote they should have is on whether they want their prison term arbitrarily extended or not.

    Latest Articles 2010

  • I always suspected that if Poetry is inherently a matter of interconnections (what we Pinoys also call pakikiramdam and what I lately have been calling algebraic as a result of three months of tutoring a 13-year-old boy in four years worth of math), such a book can hold together -- also recall Gertrude Stein's observation (I paraphrase) about how a word arbitrarily placed next to another word will rub together for some unexpected frisson if not generate some meaning.

    THE TEST OF THE UNCOLLECTED 2009

  • I always suspected that if Poetry is inherently a matter of interconnections (what we Pinoys also call pakikiramdam and what I lately have been calling algebraic as a result of three months of tutoring a 13-year-old boy in four years worth of math), such a book can hold together -- also recall Gertrude Stein's observation (I paraphrase) about how a word arbitrarily placed next to another word will rub together for some unexpected frisson if not generate some meaning.

    Archive 2009-08-01 2009

  • Most of the cast die heroically, stupidly, or arbitrarily, which is realistic enough.

    Reviews Too Late: Saints and Soldiers Walter Jon Williams 2008

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