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Which effect challenges linguist Ferdinand de Saussure's idea that language is arbitrary?

arbitrary

[ahr-bi-trer-ee] / ˈɑr bɪˌtrɛr i /




Example Sentences

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Kingdom, “An action is arbitrary and capricious when the agency relies on inappropriate factors, fails to consider important aspects of the problem, or ignores relevant evidence.”

From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2026

Meanwhile the US State Department continues to classify travel to China as a Level 2 advisory urging travellers to "exercise increased caution" because of the risk of arbitrary law enforcement, exit bans and detention.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Right now, planning and building a single interregional transmission line can take as long as 18 years, in part because existing laws governing the process create arbitrary obstacles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

A three-judge bench ruled that the pardon granted by then president Maithripala Sirisena in May 2019 was "arbitrary and invalid".

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

But the actual intervals — the way the notes sound — are not arbitrary accidents of history.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Some contained codes, devised by Anson Stager, general manager of U.S. military telegraphs, that inserted decoy words or arbitraries into messages that were unscrambled with cipher charts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2016


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