authority figure
Americannoun
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.
Pacey said there should be an "authority figure" to help keep order, or a barrier telling people which way to go up and down the steps.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
There’s almost no authority figure or august body in our society in which most people have confidence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025
For years she searched, bribing whatever authority figure she could find just to find out where Ahmad was being held.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2024
“I can’t imagine that helps the defense … to have somebody treat the authority figure, who’s been pretty evenhanded, that way. I don’t think that’ll play well.”
From Salon ● May 21, 2024
He was doing that to look like an authority figure, I realized.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
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.
