Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use authority in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun

Authority means power or right to make or enforce rules, give orders, or impose obligation; or a position having such power or right. Example: “I have the authority to penalise the staff in my department, but not the authority to sack them.”

Examples of authority by meaning

nounPower 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.
  • She lost all respect and authority after turning up drunk at the meeting.

nounPersons, regarded collectively, who occupy official positions of power; police or law enforcement.

  • Authorities say the suspect fled on foot.
  • It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities.1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings
  • These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.2013 August 10, “Legal highs: A new prescription”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848

nounA 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.
  • 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

nounStatus as a trustworthy source of information, reputation for mastery or expertise; or claim to such status or...

  • Due to being inadequate for the deductive method of reasoning, the argument from authority is considered a logical fallacy.

nounOfficial 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

nounA government-owned agency that runs a revenue-generating activity for public benefit.

  • New York Port Authority
  • Chicago Transit Authority

More sentences with authority

  • The CEO made a public apology for the scandal, and promised full cooperation with the authorities.From the entry apology
  • How can you speak with authority about their customs when you have never lived among them?From the entry among
  • Cornered by the authorities, the shooter turned the gun on himself.From the entry turn on
  • The bat cracked with authority and the ball went for six.From the entry crack
  • In medieval Europe, Jews were often linked to usury and therefore persecuted by authorities.From the entry usury
  • The authorities are trying to crack down on drunk driving during the holidays.From the entry crack down
  • They made such a hullabaloo about the change that the authorities were forced to change it back.From the entry hullabaloo
  • At slow taxiing speed, there is insufficient rudder authority to steer the aeroplane.From the entry rudder authority
  • The airspeed was so low that there was insufficient elevator authority to recover from the stall.From the entry elevator authority
  • At higher airspeeds there is sufficient aileron authority to perform extremely fast rolls.From the entry aileron authority
  • His timidness prevented him from challenging authority or asking his boss for a raise.From the entry timidness
  • The school authorities, unable to take a joke, demanded the immediate removal of the satirical poster.From the entry take a joke
  • Eventually I was promoted, and a small team of recruits came under my authority.From the entry come under
  • An absolute monarchy is a monarchy where the monarch is legally the ultimate authority in all temporal matters.From the entry monarchy
  • The word ‘ain't’ is proscribed by many authorities.From the entry proscribe
  • They turned over the evidence to the authorities.From the entry turn over
  • The police abused their authority to wreak an innocent.From the entry wreak
  • They lodged a protest with the authorities.From the entry protest
  • She dealt with the faculty with combined authority and ease.From the entry ease
  • The center spun quickly and dunked the ball with authority.From the entry dunk
  • An enlightened mind does not need external authority.From the entry enlightened
  • His authority and influence over his coordinates broke down gradually.From the entry break down
  • He filed complaints with the housing authority.From the entry complaint
  • A unitary authority and borough (Reading Borough Council) in Berkshire.From the entry reading
  • He is an authority on the precursors of suicidal behavior.From the entry suicidal
  • Many postal authorities are affiliated with the UPU.From the entry postal authority

Meaning of authority

  1. noun Power or right to make or enforce rules, give orders, or impose obligation; or a position having such power or right.
  2. noun Persons, regarded collectively, who occupy official positions of power; police or law enforcement.
  3. noun A reliable, definitive source of information on a subject.

Full definition of authority

Questions about authority in a sentence

How do you use authority in a sentence?
Authority is used as a noun. For example: “I have the authority to penalise the staff in my department, but not the authority to sack them.”
What is a short sentence with authority?
“Chicago Transit 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.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: authority (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use authority in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/authority. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.