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arbitrary
[ahr-bi-trer-ee] 
| Main Entry: |
arbitrary
[ahr-bi-trer-ee]
|
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | whimsical, chance |
| Synonyms: | approximate, capricious, discretionary, erratic, fanciful, frivolous, inconsistent, injudicious, irrational, irresponsible, offhand, optional, random, subjective, supercilious, superficial, unaccountable, unreasonable, unscientific, wayward, willful |
| Antonyms: | circumspect, rational, reasonable, reasoned, supported |
| Main Entry: | absolute |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | in control or complete authority |
| Synonyms: | absolutist, arbitrary, authoritarian, autocratic, autonomous, despotic, dictatorial, full, monocratic, preeminent, sovereign, supreme, totalitarian, tyrannical, tyrannous |
| Antonyms: | accountable, complaisant, compliant, restricted, submissive, yielding |
| Main Entry: | autocratic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | holding power exclusively |
| Synonyms: | absolute, all-powerful, arbitrary, bossy, czarlike, despotic, dictatorial, domineering, driving, imperious, monocratic, pushing, tyrannical, tyrannous |
| Antonyms: | democratic |
| Main Entry: | capricious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | given to sudden behavior change |
| Synonyms: | any way the wind blows, arbitrary, blowing hot and cold, careless, changeful, contrary, crotchety, effervescent, erratic, every which way, fanciful, fickle, fitful, flaky*, flighty, freakish, gaga, helter-skelter, humorsome, impulsive, inconstant, kinky*, lubricious, mercurial, moody, mutable, notional, odd, picky*, punchy, queer, quirky, temperamental, ticklish, unpredictable, unreasonable, unstable, up and down, vagarious, variable, volatile, wayward, whimsical, yo-yo |
| Antonyms: | constant, dependable, sensible, staid, steadfast, steady |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | dictatorial |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | tyrannical, authoritarian |
| Synonyms: | absolute, arbitrary, arrogant, autocratic, bossy, clamorous, crack-the-whip, despotic, dictative, doctrinaire, dogmatic, domineering, egotistic, firm, haughty, imperative, imperious, iron-handed, oppressive, overbearing, peremptory, pompous, proud, stern, throwing weight around, totalitarian, unlimited, unrestricted |
| Antonyms: | democratic, docile, passive |
| Main Entry: | dogmatic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dictatorial, opinionated |
| Synonyms: | arbitrary, arrogant, assertive, bigoted, bullheaded, categorical, cocksure, confident, definite, despotic, determined, dictative, doctrinaire, domineering, downright, egotistical, emphatic, fanatical, fascistic, formal, high and mighty, imperious, intolerant, magisterial, narrow-minded, obdurate, obstinate, one-sided, overbearing, peremptory, pigheaded, prejudiced, stiff-necked, stubborn, tenacious, tyrannical, unequivocal, wrong-headed |
| Antonyms: | amenable, doubting, flexible, indecisive, manageable, obedient, questioning, skeptical, submissive |
| Main Entry: | erratic |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | unpredictable; wandering |
| Synonyms: | aberrant, abnormal, anomalous, arbitrary, bizarre, capricious, changeable, desultory, devious, dicey, directionless, dubious, eccentric, fitful, flaky*, fluctuant, idiosyncratic, iffy, incalculable, inconsistent, inconstant, irregular, meandering, mercurial, nomadic, oddball, peculiar, planetary, rambling, roving, shifting, spasmodic, strange, stray, uncertain, undirected, unnatural, unreliable, unstable, unusual, vagarious, variable, volatile, wayward, weird, whimsical |
| Antonyms: | certain, consistent, definite, dependable, predictable, regular, reliable, steady, sure, unchanging |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | fickle |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | vacillating, blowing hot and cold |
| Synonyms: | arbitrary, capricious, changeable, cheating, coquettish, double-crossing, faithless, fitful, flighty, frivolous, inconstant, irresolute, lubricious, mercurial, mutable, quicksilver, sneaking, temperamental, ticklish, two-timing, unfaithful, unpredictable, unstable, unsteady, untrue, variable, volatile, whimsical, yo-yo |
| Antonyms: | aware, cognizant, constant, faithful, reliable, stable, steady |
| Main Entry: | fortuitous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | lucky, accidental |
| Synonyms: | arbitrary, casual, chance, contingent, fluke, fluky, fortunate, haphazard, happy, incidental, luck in, luck out, lucky-dog, odd, providential, random, serendipitous, unforeseen, unplanned |
| Notes: | accidental stresses chance; fortuitous so strongly suggests chance that it often connotes absence of cause aleatory refers to the present or future while fortuitous is more about past events fortunate means having unexpected good fortune or luck; fortuitous means happening by chance or coming or occurring by accident or without any known cause |
| Antonyms: | calculated, deliberate, designed, intentional, planned, unlucky |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2012 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2012 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
