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Arbitrary vs Debatable - What's the difference?

arbitrary | debatable |

As adjectives the difference between arbitrary and debatable

is that arbitrary is (usually|of a decision) based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random while debatable is controversial not fully proved, open to debate, sometimes used humorously.

As a noun arbitrary

is anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.

arbitrary

English

Adjective

(arbitrariness) (en adjective)
  • (usually, of a decision) Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.
    • Benjamin Franklin's designation of "positive" and "negative" to different charges was arbitrary . In fact, electrons flow in the opposite direction to conventional current.
    The decision to use 18 years as the legal age of adulthood was arbitrary , as both age 17 and 19 were reasonable alternatives.
  • Determined by impulse rather than reason; heavy-handed.
    • "The Russian trials were Stalin's purges, with which he attempted to consolidate his power. Like most people in the West, I believed these show trials to be the arbitrary acts of a cruel dictator." ( Max Born, Letters to Einstein)
  • (mathematics) Any and all possible.
    • The equation is true for an arbitrary value of x.
  • Determined by independent arbiter.
    • To secure food safety, there should first be a national standard to arbitrarily state what is wholesome and what is not; second, the final buyer should know exactly what he is purchasing. ( The World's Work ...: a history of our time)

    Related terms

    * arbit * arbiter * arbitrable * arbitrage * arbitrarily * arbitrariness * arbitrary and capricious * arbitrate * arbitration * arbitrator

    Noun

    (arbitraries)
  • Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.

    • External links

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    debatable

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Controversial. Not fully proved, open to debate, sometimes used humorously.
    • Those data are debatable , no one has been able to replicate them.
    It's debatable whether he is a stud.
  • Of a person, argumentative.
    • That debatable individual.
  • A fitting subject for debate.
    • The lack of bonuses isn't debatable.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

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