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Arbitrary vs Erratic - What's the difference?

arbitrary | erratic |

As adjectives the difference between arbitrary and erratic

is that arbitrary is based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random while erratic is unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.

As nouns the difference between arbitrary and erratic

is that arbitrary is anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee while erratic is a rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.

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

    * *

    erratic

    English

    Alternative forms

    * erratick, erraticke, erratique (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent
    • Henry has been getting erratic scores on his tests: 40% last week, but 98% this week.
  • Deviating from the common course in opinion or conduct; eccentric; odd.
    • erratic conduct

    Derived terms

    * erratically

    Antonyms

    * consistent

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (geology) A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.
  • * 2003 , (Bill Bryson), A Short History of Nearly Everything , BCA 2003, p. 372:
    • The term for a displaced boulder is an erratic , but in the nineteenth century the expression seemed to apply more often to the theories than to the rocks.
  • Anything that has erratic characteristics.

    • Anagrams

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