Dictionary
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. Math.undetermined; not assigned a specific value:
an arbitrary constant.
—
n.
arbitraries, Print. (in Britain) peculiar (def. 9).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.