authority
Syllables: au·thor·i·tyUK/ɔːˈθɒɹəti//əˈθɔɹədi/
authority noun: power or right to make or enforce rules, give orders, or impose obligation; or a position having such power or right.
Noun
authority (countable and uncountable, plural authorities)
- Power or right to make or enforce rules, give orders, or impose obligation; or a position having such power or right.
- I have the authority to penalise the staff in my department, but not the authority to sack them.
- Vigilantes may have the power to nab criminals, but they lack the authority.
- Synonyms:
- command, rulership, sovereignty, control
- Antonyms:
- impotence, powerlessness
- Persons, regarded collectively, who occupy official positions of power; police or law enforcement.
- Authorities say the suspect fled on foot.
- The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings
- A reliable, definitive source of information on a subject.
- the world's foremost authority on orangutans
- My cheap dictionary is not the authority on word derivations.
- Status as a trustworthy source of information, reputation for mastery or expertise; or claim to such status or reputation.
- Due to being inadequate for the deductive method of reasoning, the argument from authority is considered a logical fallacy.
- Official permission; authorisation to act in some capacity on behalf of a ruling entity.
- 'It seems to me,' remarked Mr Carrados, remembering something very similar not long before, 'that whatever anyone wants to do about Shakespeare, it is easy to find authority in his works for doing it.'1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries
- Authority to construct eight carriages, to test the new design in public service, had already been given; but of course complete working drawings had first to be prepared.1964 July, “XP64: New Standard Carriage Project”, in Modern Railways, page 2
- Synonyms:
- jurisdiction, leave, sanction, allowance, authorization, clearance, consent, license, mandate, permission
- A government-owned agency that runs a revenue-generating activity for public benefit.
- New York Port Authority
- Chicago Transit Authority
authority meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
authority in Hindi
- power to enforce rules or give orders
- अधिकार adhikār, प्राधिकार prādhikār
- police or law enforcement collectively
- प्रशासन praśāsan
- government agency that runs a revenue-generating activity
- प्राधिकरण prādhikraṇ
authority in Tamil
- அதிகாரி, அதிகாரம், பண்ணாட்டு, அதிகாரசபை, வல்லுநர், நிபுணர்
authority in Marathi
- authority, domination
- हुकमत hukmat
- authority, power
- अधिकार adhikār
authority in Urdu
- power to enforce rules or give orders
- مُقْتَدِرَہ muqtadira, اِقْتِدار iqtidār
More languagesFewer languages
- authority in Bengali
- কর্তৃত্ব kortritto
- authority in Telugu
- అధికారము adhikāramu
- authority in Malayalam
- അധികാരം adhikāraṁ, അധികാരികൾ adhikārikaḷ
- authority in Kannada
- ಅಧಿಕಾರ adhikāra
- authority in Punjabi
- ਅਧਿਕਾਰ adhikār, ਤਾਕਤ tākat, ਸ਼ਕਤੀ śaktī, ਸਿੱਕਾ sikkā
- authority in Gujarati
- અધિકાર adhikār
- authority in Odia
- କରଣି karaṇi, ଅଧିକାର adhikāra, ଜାରି jāri, ଜୋର୍ jor
- authority in Sanskrit
- अधिकार adhikāra, मा mā́, आज्ञा ājñā, वश váśa
- authority in Nepali
- सत्ता sattā
- authority in Pashto
- واک wâk
- authority in Arabic
- سُلْطَة sulṭa
- authority in Malay
- autoriti, pihak berkuasa, penguasa
- authority in Indonesian
- otoritas, kewenangan
- authority in Thai
- อำนาจ am-nâat, เจ้าหน้าที่ jâao-nâa-tîi
- authority in Vietnamese
- quyền lực
Examples of authority in a sentence
- She lost all respect and authority after turning up drunk at the meeting.
- Respect my authority!
- It was widely seen as an attempt to deflect attention from the Comey controversy and re-establish some authority at the briefing room podium.2017 May 16, Dylan Byers, “Does anyone in Trump's White House have credibility?”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 22 Mar...
- To punish me for my contempt of authority, Fate has made me an authority myself.1930 September 18, Albert Einstein, as quoted in Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel (1988) by Banesh Hoffman
- In these volumes, edited by a French scholar who is today the greatest (and almost the only) authority on Siamese legal history […]1940, John H. Wigmore, “Pramnŏn Kŏtmai Roc'ăkan T'I Nŭng Cŭlăcăkărăt 1166 (Code of the First Reign [of Siam] 1166 [A.D. 1804-05]). Edited...
Synonyms of authority
8 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of authority
| plural | authorities |
|---|---|
| alternative form | authourity |
| alternative form | authoritie |
| alternative form | autority |
| alternative form | auctoritie |
Origin of authority
From Middle English auctorite, autorite (“authority, book or quotation that settles an argument”), from Old French auctorité, from Latin stem of auctōritās (“invention, advice, opinion, influence, command”), from auctor (“master, leader, author”). For the presence of the h, compare the etymology of author.
Words formed from authority
- aileron authority
- antiauthority
- appeal to authority
- authoritah
- authority control
- authority figure
- authority issues
- authorityless
- authoritywise
- certificate authority
- coauthority
- color of authority
- combined authority
- elevator authority
- enforcement authority
- local authority
- moral authority
- multiauthority
- port authority
- postal authority
- public authority
- rudder authority
- signature authority
- statutory authority
- tax authority
- territorial authority
- unitary authority
- verbal authority
Phrases with authority
Words that rhyme with authority
Questions about authority
- What does authority mean?
- Authority means power or right to make or enforce rules, give orders, or impose obligation; or a position having such power or right.
- What is authority in Hindi?
- Authority in Hindi is अधिकार (adhikār), प्राधिकार (prādhikār), प्रशासन (praśāsan). See Authority meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use authority in a sentence?
- She lost all respect and authority after turning up drunk at the meeting.
- What part of speech is authority?
- Authority is a noun.
- How do you pronounce authority?
- Authority is pronounced /ɔːˈθɒɹəti/ (UK).
- What is the plural of authority?
- The plural of authority is authorities.
Words near authority in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: authority (page history and authors); authority (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); अधिकार (Marathi) (page history and authors); কর্তৃত্ব (Bengali) (page history and authors); ಅಧಿಕಾರ (Kannada) (page history and authors); ਅਧਿਕਾਰ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); અધિકાર (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଅଧିକାର (Odia) (page history and authors); अधिकार (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); सत्ता (Nepali) (page history and authors); واک (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-authority.ogg.
Cite this entry: “authority.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/authority. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.