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.
The complaint also argues that Jonasi presented his translation “as authoritative fact, not comedy,” so it shouldn’t get the 1st Amendment protections afforded to parody and satire.
From Los Angeles Times
As the historian Daniel Dreisbach has observed, the King James Bible was “the most accessible, authoritative, and venerated text in early colonial society.”
For instance, with traditional SEO, getting a single link from a very authoritative site meant more for ranking purposes than hundreds of mentions on other sites.
I asked, and my voice was authoritative and strong.
From Literature
Mr. Scott charts a course through these momentous events with great skill, producing a book that is readable and accessible but bedded in authoritative scholarship.
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.
