prerogative
Americannoun
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an exclusive right, privilege, etc., exercised by virtue of rank, office, or the like.
the prerogatives of a senator.
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a right, privilege, etc., limited to a specific person or to persons of a particular category.
It was the teacher's prerogative to stop the discussion.
-
a power, immunity, or the like restricted to a sovereign government or its representative.
The royal prerogative exempts the king from taxation.
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Obsolete. precedence.
adjective
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having or exercising a prerogative.
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pertaining to, characteristic of, or existing by virtue of a prerogative.
noun
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an exclusive privilege or right exercised by a person or group of people holding a particular office or hereditary rank
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any privilege or right
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a power, privilege, or immunity restricted to a sovereign or sovereign government
adjective
Synonym Usage
See privilege.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of prerogative
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin praerogātīvus (adjective) “voting first,” praerogātīva (noun use of feminine of adjective) “tribe or century with right to vote first.” See pre-, interrogative
Explanation
A prerogative is someone's special right or privilege. As Bobby Brown once sang, "I don't need permission / Make my own decisions / That's my prerogative." Prerogative goes back to a Latin root for a group having the right to vote first (prae-, "pre-" + rogare, "to ask") and thus came to mean "privileged rank." In current use, it refers to a right or privilege held by any person or group. A near synonym is privilege, which puts more emphasis on the fact that others do not have it. The self-justifying phrase "That's my prerogative" (for example, in reference to changing one's mind) is quite common.
Vocabulary lists containing prerogative
To Kill a Mockingbird
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Grade 11, List 1
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"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" by Frederick Douglass
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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.
See Examples For:
The area that Warsh can most quickly affect change is his press conference Wednesday, because that has always been the sole prerogative of the Fed chair.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 14, 2026
It declared that if a Supreme Court precedent “has direct application in a case,” the lower court must “follow the case which directly controls, leaving to this court the prerogative of overruling its own decisions.”
From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2026
“It’s always gonna be my prerogative as editor of this newsroom to say that I want more information, and to push to get more information,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026
"Some people will never want to disclose their menopausal status at work, no matter how compassionate or supportive their organisation is, and that is absolutely their prerogative," she adds.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2026
It was her house, after all, and her prerogative, a phrase she used often when anyone wanted to sass her.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
His historical legacy rests not only on his mastery of parliamentary procedure, but on his deployment of the upper chamber’s prerogatives with lethal precision.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Eswar Prasad: I haven’t been entirely surprised because I could see that there are certain economic prerogatives of the current administration that seemed to take precedence over many other considerations.
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
It has weathered the prerogatives of each presidency.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025
A Cas statement said the FIG argued it had "no prerogatives" in the issuing of entry visas, and the Indonesian government's decision not to grant the visas falls "outside the competence" of the organisation.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2025
The main charge levied against Washington was that he had made himself into a quasi king: “We have given him the powers and prerogatives of a King,” claimed one New York editorial.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
