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Definitions
Trivia Time
Which effect challenges linguist Ferdinand de Saussure's idea that language is arbitrary?

arbitrary

[ahr-bi-trer-ee] / ˈɑr bɪˌtrɛr i /




Example Sentences

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Human Rights Watch has said the removal of voters was "arbitrary and deeply flawed".

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

Kingdom, “An action is arbitrary and capricious when the agency relies on inappropriate factors, fails to consider important aspects of the problem, or ignores relevant evidence.”

From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2026

Mr. Byrne’s categories are fairly arbitrary, as he admits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

By neglecting to make individual determinations, the judge wrote, the city “failed to do its due diligence, making its actions arbitrary and capricious.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

There is no theory of the universe: events cannot be predicted beyond a certain extent but occur in a random and arbitrary manner.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

Some contained codes, devised by Anson Stager, general manager of U.S. military telegraphs, that inserted decoy words or arbitraries into messages that were unscrambled with cipher charts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2016


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