Random vs. Arbitrary — What's the Difference?

Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective

Based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system

Mathematics & Statistics Of or relating to a type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution.

(of power or a ruling body) unrestrained and autocratic in the use of authority

Of or relating to an event in which all outcomes are equally likely, as in the testing of a blood sample for the presence of a substance.

(of a constant or other quantity) of unspecified value.

A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.

Determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, reason, or principle

(obsolete) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.

Based on or subject to individual judgment or preference

(obsolete) The full range of a bullet or other projectile; hence, the angle at which a weapon is tilted to allow the greatest range.

(Law) Relating to a decision made by a court or legislature that lacks a grounding in law or fact

An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence.

Not limited by law; despotic

(mining) The direction of a rake-vein.

Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.

A frame for composing type.

Determined by impulse rather than reason; heavy-handed.

Having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.

(mathematics) Any, out of all that are possible.

(mathematics) Of or relating to probability distribution.

Determined by independent arbiter.

(computing) Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.

(linguistics) Not representative or symbolic; not iconic.

Representative and undistinguished; typical and average; selected for no particular reason.

Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.

Apropos of nothing; lacking context; unexpected; having apparent lack of plan, cause, or reason.

Depending on will or discretion; not governed by any fixed rules; as, an arbitrary decision; an arbitrary punishment.

(colloquial) Characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.

Exercised according to one's own will or caprice, and therefore conveying a notion of a tendency to abuse the possession of power.

Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected.

Despotic; absolute in power; bound by no law; harsh and unforbearing; tyrannical; as, an arbitrary prince or government.

Force; violence.

Based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice;

A roving motion; course without definite direction; want of direction, rule, or method; hazard; chance; - commonly used in the phrase at random, that is, without a settled point of direction; at hazard.

Distance to which a missile is cast; range; reach; as, the random of a rifle ball.

The direction of a rake-vein.

Going at random or by chance; done or made at hazard, or without settled direction, aim, or purpose; hazarded without previous calculation; left to chance; haphazard; as, a random guess.

Of, pertaining to, or resulting from a process of selection from a starting set of items, in which the probability of selecting any one object in the starting set is equal to the probability of selecting any other.

Of unequal size or shape; made from components of unequal size or shape.

Lacking any definite plan or order or purpose; governed by or depending on chance;

Taken haphazardly;