arbiter
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A person appointed, or chosen, by parties to determine a controversy between them.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ahrbihterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɑɹbɪtɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A person appointed, or chosen, by parties to determine a controversy between them; an arbitrator.
with of
A person or object having the power of judging, determining, or ordaining; one whose power of deciding and governing is not limited.
verb
transitive
To act as an arbiter.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A person appointed, or chosen, by parties to determine a controversy between them; an arbitrator.
Used this way, arbiter is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use arbiter
- “She was the final arbiter on all matters of fashion.”noun
- “The critic was considered to be an arbiter of modern literature.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Someone who popularizes a new fashion.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.