authoritative
Americanadjective
-
having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority.
an authoritative opinion.
- Synonyms:
- official
-
substantiated or supported by documentary evidence and accepted by most authorities in a field.
an authoritative edition of Shakespeare; an authoritative treatment of a subject.
-
having an air of authority; accustomed to exercising authority; positive; peremptory; dictatorial.
said with an authoritative air.
- Synonyms:
- authoritarian, dogmatic
adjective
-
recognized or accepted as being true or reliable
an authoritative article on drugs
-
exercising or asserting authority; commanding
an authoritative manner
-
possessing or supported by authority; official
an authoritative communiqué
Other Word Forms
- authoritatively adverb
- authoritativeness noun
- nonauthoritative adjective
- nonauthoritatively adverb
- nonauthoritativeness noun
- unauthoritative adjective
- unauthoritatively adverb
- unauthoritativeness noun
Etymology
Origin of authoritative
First recorded in 1595–1605; authorit(y) + -ative
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.
Their work relied on desktop research and drew from peer reviewed articles, international organization reports, and other authoritative sources focused on microplastics, ocean health, climate change, and related social and environmental issues.
From Science Daily
Cobb’s unexpected new career prefigured those of the charismatic and authoritative doctor-authors and healthcare influencers guiding women through menopause online today.
Nor do they expect him to act as Wall Street’s authoritative voice of calm.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the Bible was the country’s “most accessible, authoritative, and venerated book.”
Ron Chernow, in his authoritative biography of Hamilton, writes, “theirs was a friendship of unusual ardor,” but regards the lifelong bond between the sisters as evidence against an affair.
Definitions 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.
