authority
- noun
- /əˈθɔrɪti/
- The school principal has the authority to approve any changes to the curriculum.
- be given authority
- grant authority
- obtain authority
I don't have the authority to do that.
- I don't have the authority to do that.
- And he gave them the sole authority to make this show.
- The first draft of the constitution did not have the authority of the guardian juries.
- But when caught up with the lives of everybody else, I'm giving people the authority to answer that question for me.
- We give authority through our laws to industrial fishers to take them by the ton.
- It really is a grant of authority is is trying to push a string.
- You're going to give them authority.
- So the free option, yeah, you may not have heard of it, but there's a thing called a voter authority certificate.
- So just like parents can take the authority to baptize a child by the parents authority, the baby gets baptized.
- The world is so much bigger than your culture or community and they don't speak on your behalf without your soul's authority.
Examples
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The EPA has the authority to start making life very difficult for these folks.
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We have no authority to ban singing in our country.
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Under what authority did they put the King on trial?
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And I think that that we should probably give them the authority to do that job.
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There is no higher authority to which such people can appeal for help.
Academic text (2011) -
You have the authority, the moral authority to make certain comments.
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Get someone with the authority to open this gate.
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The government gave me the authority.
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Does the office have the authority to speak on behalf of the university?
Academic text (2011) -
I don't have the authority to do that.
Synonyms
Official approval that lets you do something
Official permission to do something from a person or group in charge
Permission for something to happen, often given in writing
An official paper that lets someone do something
Official permission to do something
Permission that a person in charge gives to do something
Official permission from an authority to do something
Official permission to do something
Permission from someone in charge to go ahead
Antonyms
Compounds
- Formal
A person or group that has power over people's daily life, not the military
- Formal
An official group that makes rules and makes sure businesses follow them to protect people
A body that governs parts of the West Bank and Gaza with limited power under agreements with Israel
- Formal
A government group that plans and manages rebuilding of run-down parts of a city
How Permitted
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Authority comes from the Latin auctor 'creator' or 'maker', a person who could give approval. So authority can mean the official permission or approval you need to do something.