Arbitrary vs Imprudent - What's the difference?
arbitrary | imprudent |
(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.
Not prudent; wanting in prudence or discretion; indiscreet; injudicious; not attentive to consequence; improper.
* 1711 , , The Life and Acts of Matthew Parker , volume 1.
* {{quote-book
, year=1853
, author=Mary Elizabeth Braddon
, title=Phantom Fortune
, chapter=3
* {{quote-book
, year=1864
, author=Jules Verne
, title=Journey to the Interior of the Earth
, chapter=3
As adjectives the difference between arbitrary and imprudent
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 imprudent is not prudent; wanting in prudence or discretion; indiscreet; injudicious; not attentive to consequence; improper.As a noun arbitrary
is anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.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
)
Noun
(arbitraries)External links
* *imprudent
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- Here Her Majesty took a great dislike at the imprudent behavior of many of the Ministers and Readers.
citation, passage=‘It was a most 'imprudent thing to go up Helvellyn in such weather,’ said Fräulein Müller, shaking her head gloomily as she ate her fish.}}
citation, passage=My uncle, falling back into his absorbing contemplations, had already forgotten my imprudent' words. I merely say ' imprudent , for the great mind of so learned a man of course had no place for love affairs, and happily the grand business of the document gained me the victory.}}
