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authoritative

[uh-thawr-i-tey-tiv, uh-thor-]
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adjective
  1. having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority: an authoritative opinion.
  2. 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.
  3. having an air of authority; accustomed to exercising authority; positive; peremptory; dictatorial: said with an authoritative air.
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Origin of authoritative

First recorded in 1595–1605; authorit(y) + -ative
Related formsau·thor·i·ta·tive·ly, adverbau·thor·i·ta·tive·ness, nounnon·au·thor·i·ta·tive, adjectivenon·au·thor·i·ta·tive·ly, adverbnon·au·thor·i·ta·tive·ness, nounun·au·thor·i·ta·tive, adjectiveun·au·thor·i·ta·tive·ly, adverbun·au·thor·i·ta·tive·ness, noun

Synonyms

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1. official. 3. dogmatic, authoritarian.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

confidencetrustinevitabilitycertitudecredencelocksurenesssuretypositivenesssteadinessshoo-instocklockupbeliefvalidityfirmnesscinchfaithconvictionsetup

Examples from the Web for authoritativeness

Historical Examples

  • The great difficulty that authoritativeness has to contend with is some other authoritativeness.

    The Book of the Damned

    Charles Fort

  • Authoritativeness is characteristic of His mode of teaching.

    Modern Skepticism

    C. J. Ellicott

  • Dazed and awed by the man's authoritativeness the boys ran down to the water to see what was the trouble.

  • In this manner arises the authoritativeness of moral requirements, as designating the latest and highest order of means.

  • And this idea of authoritativeness is one element in the abstract consciousness of duty.

    The Data of Ethics

    Herbert Spencer

British Dictionary definitions for authoritativeness

authoritative

adjective
  1. recognized or accepted as being true or reliablean authoritative article on drugs
  2. exercising or asserting authority; commandingan authoritative manner
  3. possessing or supported by authority; officialan authoritative communiqué
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Derived Formsauthoritatively, adverbauthoritativeness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for authoritativeness

authoritative

adj.

c.1600, "dictatorial" (a sense now restricted to authoritarian), from Medieval Latin authoritativus (see authority). Meaning "possessing authority" is recorded from 1650s; that of "proceeding from proper authority" is from 1809. Related: Authoritatively; authoritativeness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper