arbitrary
Something that's arbitrary seems like it's chosen at random instead of following a consistent rule. Team members would dislike their coach using a totally arbitrary method to pick starting players.
Even though arbitrary comes from a word meaning "judge" (arbiter), that doesn't mean judges are always fair. Calling a decision-maker arbitrary is usually a negative thing, suggesting the person is making rules based on whim rather than justice. A coach who selects starting players arbitrarily isn't strictly applying a rule; he could just be picking names out of a hat.
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based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice“an arbitrary decision”“the arbitrary rule of a dictator”“an arbitrary penalty”“of arbitrary size and shape”“an arbitrary choice”“arbitrary division of the group into halves”synonyms:absolutenot limited by lawdiscretional, discretionaryhaving or using the ability to act or decide according to your own discretion or judgmentantonyms:nonarbitrarynot subject to individual determinationprescribedset down as a rule or guide
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Vocabulary lists containing arbitrary
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The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776 by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, with a preamble by John Adams and editing by Benjamin Franklin and other members of Congress, it outlines the offenses of King George III to justify the vote for independence that had taken place two days earlier. With the colonies already one year into a war, the Declaration closed the door on reconciliation with Great Britain and paved the way for the creation of the United States of America. Read the full text here.