adjective 1. resulting from whim or caprice instead of from a rule or reason.The committee’s decision seemed completely arbitrary. 2. exercising power with no legal restrictions; despotic.One arbitrary leader after another ruled…

adjective of low quality; poorly made or carried out; shabby.A shoddy pair of shoes like that will fall apart in no time.Shoddy workmanship went into this furniture. noun a low-grade fiber obtained…

transitive verb 1. to distinguish by means of description, marks, name, or the like; specify.The committee designated those houses that would have to be removed to make way for the highway.The announcement…

noun an extremely poor person, esp. one who must live on public charity.Widowed and disabled, she became a pauper living on hand-outs. transitive verb to cause to be a pauper; impoverish. See…

noun a crude social error; blunder; faux pas.The politician’s tasteless remark on the talk show was a gaffe that brought him ridicule in the national press. See the full entry