Arbitrary vs Inane - What's the difference?
arbitrary | inane |
(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.
Lacking sense or meaning (often to the point of boredom or annoyance).
purposeless; pointless
* I. Taylor
That which is void or empty.
* Locke
*1881 , :
As adjectives the difference between arbitrary and inane
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 inane is lacking sense or meaning (often to the point of boredom or annoyance).As nouns the difference between arbitrary and inane
is that arbitrary is anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee while inane is that which is void or empty.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
* *inane
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- This supremely gifted kid told me that in the early elementary grades, the songs sung in music class were so inane that he wanted to skip grades already! Eventually he did, so better late than never.
- Vague and inane instincts.
Synonyms
* (lacking sense) silly, fatuous, vapidDerived terms
* inanely * inanityNoun
(en noun)- The undistinguishable inane of infinite space.
- [...] whom we watch as we watch the clouds careering in the windy, bottomless inane , or read about like characters in ancient and rather fabulous annals.