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
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Recent Examples of arbiter
And the National Toxicity Program, which is the ultimate arbiter of the toxicity of environmental exposures, have found that even small exposures to fluoride reduce IQ by a point, a point-and-a-half, and the larger exposures by much more.
—
Will Carless, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026
Still, Ternus isn’t the final arbiter for design decisions, which have been made by consensus for several years.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 22 Jan. 2026
Yet, this attempt misses the mark by making the state the arbiter of what’s appropriate for young Floridians.
—Kevin Frazier, Sun Sentinel, 22 Jan. 2026
So the markets are the ultimate arbiter of over whether the Fed’s independence is being impugned.
—NBC news, 18 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for arbiter
Will Carless, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026
Still, Ternus isn’t the final arbiter for design decisions, which have been made by consensus for several years.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 22 Jan. 2026
Yet, this attempt misses the mark by making the state the arbiter of what’s appropriate for young Floridians.
—Kevin Frazier, Sun Sentinel, 22 Jan. 2026
So the markets are the ultimate arbiter of over whether the Fed’s independence is being impugned.
—NBC news, 18 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for arbiter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for arbiter
Noun
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Atkinson whipped his arm against the nearby referee before the whistle was blown.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
1 Feb. 2026
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Tucked in among all of the many things that Pep Guardiola has got off his chest about referees over the past couple of weeks was a very small detail that might explain an awful lot.—
Sam Lee,
New York Times,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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On Wednesday, the Manhattan district attorney's office urged the judge in that case to schedule a July 1 trial date.—
MICHAEL R. SISAK,
Arkansas Online,
31 Jan. 2026
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Reilly argued that the judge handling the civil proceedings never evaluated the complaint as potentially falling under an ordinary negligence claim.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Smith’s crew is set to include Roy Ellison (umpire), Eugene Hall (side judge), Greg Steed (back judge), Dana McKenzie (down judge), Julian Mapp (line judge), Jason Ledet (field judge) and Andrew Lambert (replay official).—
Senior Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
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Years ago, Major League Baseball had a crisis in which umpires notoriously had their own versions of the strike zone for batters.—
Steve Forbes,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The Court has now referred the case back to the original arbitrator, the Court of Arbitration for Sport.—
Caroline Price,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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After subtracting the sale price, the arbitrator awarded Mötley Crüe a net payment of $244,293.—
Nancy Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Arbiter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/arbiter. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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