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Trunks Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary
Understanding of "'arbitrary"?
Can you tell me how "capricious" be a possible meaning for "arbitrary"?
Top answer
Why not? Capricious: : governed or characterized by impulse or whim: as a : lacking a rational basis b : likely to change suddenly. Not supported by the weight of evidence or established rules of law —often used in the phrase arbitrary and capricious Arbitrary: Determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, reason, or principle: stopped at the first motel we passed, an arbitrary choice.
- Why not?
- Capricious: : governed or characterized by impulse or whim: as a : lacking a rational basis b : likely to change suddenly.
- Not supported by the weight of evidence or established rules of law —often used in the phrase arbitrary and capricious Arbitrary: Determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, reason, or principle: stopped at the first motel we passed, an arbitrary choice.
- Established by a court or judge rather than by a specific law or statute: an arbitrary penalty.
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4 Answers
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Why not?
Capricious: : governed or characterized by impulse or whim: as a : lacking a rational basis b : likely to change suddenly. Not supported by the weight of evidence or established rules of law —often used in the phrase arbitrary and capricious
Arbitrary: Determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, re
Capricious: : governed or characterized by impulse or whim: as a : lacking a rational basis b : likely to change suddenly. Not supported by the weight of evidence or established rules of law —often used in the phrase arbitrary and capricious
Arbitrary: Determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, re
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Well, in the Advanced Oxford Dictionary:
Arbitrary adj. - based on personal opinion or impulse, not on any reason or system
Capricious adj. - showing sudden changes in attitude or behavior.
Based on this information, I presumed they are not related.
However, my Barren's book mentions:
Arbitrary adj. - capricious; randomly chosen: tyrannical.
S
Arbitrary adj. - based on personal opinion or impulse, not on any reason or system
Capricious adj. - showing sudden changes in attitude or behavior.
Based on this information, I presumed they are not related.
However, my Barren's book mentions:
Arbitrary adj. - capricious; randomly chosen: tyrannical.
S
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They're certainly not interchangeable. Many dictionaries list capricious as a synonym for arbitrary. I'm not really sure about this usage because you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a sentence where you can replace arbitrary with capricious.
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She made a very capricious/arbitrary decision to buy the pink lipstick instead of the rose one.
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