Frivolous vs Arbitrary - What's the difference?
frivolous | arbitrary |
Silly, especially at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate manner.
* '>citation
* Factcheck.org[http://www.factcheck.org/article133.html]:
Of little weight or importance; not worth notice; slight.
In litigation, a lawsuit filed by a party who is aware the claim is without merit and has no reasonable prospect of success because of a lack of supporting legal or factual basis.
(usually, of a decision) 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.
(mathematics) Any and all possible.
Determined by independent arbiter.
Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.
As adjectives the difference between frivolous and arbitrary
is that frivolous is silly, especially at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate manner while arbitrary is (usually|of a decision) based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.As a noun arbitrary is
anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.frivolous
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- One of the major cost drivers in the delivery of health care are these junk and frivolous lawsuits.
Derived terms
* frivolent * frivolously * frivolousnessExternal links
* *arbitrary
English
Adjective
(arbitrariness) (en adjective)- 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.
- "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
)
- The equation is true for an arbitrary value of x.
- 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
)