as in referee
a person who impartially decides or resolves a dispute or controversy the dean of student affairs is the proper arbiter when a student disputes a grade

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of arbiter In this way, AI itself will act as an arbiter that decides which tasks fall into human hands. Eric Siegel, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025 While the simple definition of recession has been two consecutive quarters of GDP decline, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has historically been the final arbiter of dating the business cycle. Bill Stone, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025 Evan Lam, who aspires to study medicine at UC Irvine, often acts as his mom’s Disney ears style arbiter. Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2025 All of this raises critics’ doubts that Kennedy could be anything like a fair and knowledgeable arbiter of the roots of autism—much less that an HHS under his direction could determine those roots in the next five months. Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 18 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for arbiter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for arbiter
Noun
  • The Galaxy appeared to even the game on a brilliant counterattack goal from Pec in the 78th minute, but after a long video review referee Drew Fischer ruled Pec was offside.
    Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 2025
  • In the 73rd minute of the game, Vinicius Jr confronted a group of Valencia fans in a stand behind one of the goals and called the attention of match referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, who stopped the game to follow La Liga’s racist abuse protocol.
    Colin Millar, New York Times, 19 May 2025
Noun
  • Quick look at Wednesday's news: The Menendez brothers are eligible for parole, a judge ruled.
    Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA Today, 15 May 2025
  • However, migrants targeted for deportation would still have the opportunity to challenge their removals, potentially bringing their cases before different judges.
    Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 May 2025
Noun
  • Anybody that claims this will be great for umpire mentality doesn’t understand umpire mentality.
    Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 19 May 2025
  • So of course, my least fondest memory was the call at first base (MLB umpire Don Denkinger made a controversial safe call in Game 6).
    Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 17 May 2025
Noun
  • Into the fray is instead galloping an unlikely arbitrator: Gulf States, in particular Saudi Arabia, who are today playing a key though unfamiliar peace-making role.
    Charlie Campbell, Time, 9 May 2025
  • The grievance process led to a hearing before an arbitrator last year and then a lawsuit that the city will most likely drop as part of the settlement.
    Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 8 May 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Arbiter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/arbiter. Accessed 24 May. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on arbiter

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!