# arbitrage vs arbitrary

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### arbitrage
*noun · IPA /ˈɑɹbɪˌtɹɑʒ/ · frequency rank #36,432*
A market activity in which a security, commodity, currency or other tradable item is bought in one market and sold simultaneously in another, in order to profit from price differences between the markets.

### arbitrary
*adjective · IPA /ˈɑː.bɪ.tɹə.ɹi/ · frequency rank #8,890*
Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arbitrage-vs-arbitrary