authority
- noun
- /əˈθɔrɪti/
- The teacher explained that she had the authority to enforce classroom rules.
- exercise authority
- decision-making authority
- power and authority
I think they were much more trusting of authority than they are now.
- I think they were much more trusting of authority than they are now.
- Realize that there is a higher authority to us.
- I just, I just actually had more authority in government.
- My mom was, my mom was very anti like authority for better or for worse.
- And when you understand your authority, you will drive out demons.
- He doesn't often use his authority and sometimes he's not obeyed.
- They don't trust authority, but they defer to it.
- We are a, we tend to not do well with authority, to say the least.
- And that is where you get all your authority and strength from.
- For the rebels among us, unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
- My distrust and my dislike of authority is a deep, deep fuel in me.
- That's how it used to be, you know, like authority had all the power over children.
Examples
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In addition, it was a political solution that respected state governments' authority under the Constitution.
Academic text (1999) -
On whose authority?
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And why do we have the authority to make those wild claims?
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I demand to know by what authority the students are being removed from school.
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Without that motion, the judge has no authority to reduce the offender's sentence.
Academic text (1999) -
No president has the single authority to launch a thermonuclear war.
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I acted entirely outside the scope of my authority.
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You've exceeded your authority, Captain.
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The economic and human resources subjected to the authority of professional soldiers have diminished dramatically.
Academic text (1999) -
The Prince Regent and Nash had the authority and the money to do this.
Synonyms
Ability to control people or events
A country's right to govern itself without outside control
Official permission to do something
Freedom to decide what to do in a situation
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 Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Authority comes from the Latin auctor 'creator' or 'maker', and makers long ago were seen as those who could decide. That's why authority now means the power or right to give orders and make people obey.