In a sentence
Six example sentences with arbitrary, each labelled with its topic.
The tournament seeding looked arbitrary, since organizers drew names from a hat instead of using the ranking ladder.
Gaming
A fine set at an arbitrary figure invites appeal, because nothing in the record explains how the number arose.
Law
The border here follows an arbitrary straight line drawn on a map, cutting one village into two countries.
Travel
The system gives each user an arbitrary six-digit code, generated at random with no pattern anyone could guess.
Technology
The dress code seemed arbitrary, banning blue jeans while allowing black ones with no explanation ever offered.
Business
If moral rules are arbitrary, the skeptic asks, why does breaking one feel so different from breaking a habit?
Philosophy
Study arbitrary until you keep it
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Found in these word lists
Found in 12 published word lists
- Academic Word List (Coxhead 2000)Authoritative
- New Academic Word List (Browne/Culligan/Phillips 2013)Authoritative
- University Word List (Xue & Nation 1984)Authoritative
- Academic Keyword List (Paquot 2010)Authoritative
- Science Vocabulary ListAuthoritative
- Magoosh GRE 1000Recognized
- 5000 GRE Words (widely used study list)Recognized
- GRE Word List 4700 (widely used study list)Recognized
- PrepScholar 357 GRE WordsRecognized
- GregMat 960 GRE WordsRecognized
- MajorTests SAT 1000Recognized
- SparkNotes 1000 SAT WordsRecognized
Each source is a published word list that contains arbitrary. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.