Optional vs Arbitrary - What's the difference?
optional | arbitrary |
Not compulsory; left to personal choice; elective.
(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 optional and arbitrary
is that optional is not compulsory; left to personal choice; elective while arbitrary is 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.optional
English
Adjective
(-)- On that beach clothing is entirely optional .
Antonyms
* obligatory * mandatory * compulsoryarbitrary
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
)
