arbitrary

In a legal document seen by the BBC, the coalition of Democratic states said the decision was "arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law."

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

It has a liberal side—secure property rights, courts that constrain the state—that shields entrepreneurs from arbitrary state power, ranging from selective prosecution to outright expropriation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

These days, $1 million is an arbitrary number, like getting 10,000 steps or reaching your first $100,000 in savings.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

According to the motion, the government sent intelligence-gathering teams to Home Depots and car washes where “they ran checks until they identified an arbitrary number—typically a small number—of possibly unlawfully present individuals.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Such behavior, the journal said, “would be called treason in countries less enlightened and more arbitrary than ours.”

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

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