authorial
Americanadjective
Explanation
Use the adjective authorial for things that relate to the person who wrote a book, screenplay, or article. You give up your authorial control when you hand your short story over to an editor. If you pen a novel, you may choose to give your authorial voice to a narrator, allowing them the power to reveal all the background information you want your readers to know. And your ultimate goal, the message you hope to convey in your book, can be described as authorial intent. Authorial is from author and its Latin root, auctor, "trustworthy writer."
Vocabulary lists containing authorial
Symbolism and Allegory & Idea or Theme
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Form & Symbolism and Allusion
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet in its polyphonic approach, “The Idiot” was more ambitious, its many and diverse characters never subsumed under a single authorial voice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Her inner work has been a wise investment, leading Febos to feel more freedom in her authorial vision, perhaps even moving toward fiction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2025
The museum, in Turin, said it gave the prize in recognition of Spacey's "personal aesthetic and authorial contribution to the development of the art of drama".
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2023
But, per the terms of my contract, all authorial data was encrypted and partitioned to prevent overlap between writers and publishing houses.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2023
He was rather ruining the whole business of authorial genius for me.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
