English-Danish translations for arbitrary

• arbitrær
  En arbitrær reduktion i brugen kan ikke være videnskabeligt funderet. An arbitrary reduction in use cannot be scientifically based.
  Det forekommer mig, at det er sket på et temmelig arbitrært grundlag. It seems to me that this has been done on a pretty arbitrary basis.
• vilkårlig
  Vi tager afstand fra summariske, vilkårlige henrettelser. We deplore summary and arbitrary executions.
  Dette kan skabe risiko for vilkårlige foranstaltninger. This could open the way for arbitrary measures.
  Vilkårlige arrestationer og den politiske situation i Laos Arbitrary arrests and the political situation in Laos

Definition of arbitrary

• Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random
• Determined by impulse rather than reason; heavy-handed
• Any, out of all that are possible
• Determined by independent arbiter
• Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee

Examples

• Benjamin Franklins designation of "positive" and "negative" to different charges was arbitrary
• The decision to use 18 years as the legal age of adulthood was arbitrary, as both age 17 and 19 were reasonable alternatives
• The equation is true for an arbitrary value of x

Related words

• arbitrarily
• arbitrariness
• arbitraryness
• arbitrary unit