by right of office
- idiom
- Formal
:
por derecho de oficio
- He chairs the committee by right of office, not by election.
Examples
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The manager can make decisions by right of office.
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The dean became a member of the board by right of office.
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As mayor, she is involved in the council by right of office.
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She acts by right of office as the team leader.
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As mayor, she has the authority to attend the meetings by right of office.
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He serves on the board by right of office due to his role as the chief executive.
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The director has access to confidential files by right of office.
Synonyms
Because someone has an official job or position, they are a member without being chosen again
How Authoritative
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built: 'right' = entitlement and 'office' = official post, with 'by' marking cause or means, so 'by right of office' straightforwardly means the entitlement that comes from holding an office. This follows common English patterns (e.g. 'by right of' / 'by virtue of') and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase by right of office may come from the image of a job giving someone a special key: holding the office gives a built-in right to act for that role. So, it means 'because of the power or rights that come with a job'.