ARBITRARY describes a random decision that is not based upon established rules or procedures. Instead, ARBITRARY decisions seem unfair and random.
ARBITRARY made its debut as a One Hit Wonder on the October 3, 2026 SAT. The passage featured an event that launched Maggie Kuhn’s career as a social activist. In 1970, Kuhn worked as a job as a secretary with the Presbyterian Church. Although she loved her job, a mandatory retirement law forced Kuhn to retire when she turned sixty-five. Kuhn argued that the ARBITRARY policy was unfair. Later that year, she banded together with other retirees and formed a movement that became known as the Gray Panthers.
Like Kuhn, American colonists resisted ARBITRARY rules. In 1765, the British Parliament enacted a Stamp Act to raise revenue to help pay for troops stationed in America. The act required colonists to purchase expensive stamps for newspapers, legal documents, and even playing cards. Outraged colonists viewed the Stamp Act as a direct exercise of ARBITRARY power by the British Parliament. To the colonists, an ARBITRARY law meant a decision made according to the unbridled will or whim of a ruler rather than one grounded in established legal principles, constitutional rights, and consent of the governed.
ARBITRARY – a decision that seems random and unfair