moral authority
Americannoun
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authority that comes from the principles of what is right and wrong rather than just from laws.
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the quality of being considered trustworthy and influential regarding what is right and is wrong.
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a person or institution considered trustworthy and influential regarding what is right and is wrong.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
“It is time for the State of California to use its legal and moral authority to inspect private detention facilities, hold bad actors accountable and close facilities with consistent, documented cases of human rights abuses.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
He had feared a national assembly, as Mr. Hardman notes, “because he would have no moral authority to restrain one.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
An ICJ opinion is not legally binding, but the court believes it carries "great legal weight and moral authority".
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2025
We could still claim some moral authority as the leader of what we then referred to as the “free world,” however compromised or imperfect our actions were.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2025
She was considered the moral authority of the community.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
