authoritative

[ uh-thawr-i-tey-tiv, uh-thor- ]
See synonyms for: authoritativeauthoritativelyauthoritativeness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority: an authoritative opinion.

  2. substantiated or supported by documentary evidence and accepted by most authorities in a field: an authoritative edition of Shakespeare; an authoritative treatment of a subject.

  1. having an air of authority; accustomed to exercising authority; positive; peremptory; dictatorial: said with an authoritative air.

Origin of authoritative

1
First recorded in 1595–1605; authorit(y) + -ative

Other words for authoritative

Other words from authoritative

  • au·thor·i·ta·tive·ly, adverb
  • au·thor·i·ta·tive·ness, noun
  • non·au·thor·i·ta·tive, adjective
  • non·au·thor·i·ta·tive·ly, adverb
  • non·au·thor·i·ta·tive·ness, noun
  • un·au·thor·i·ta·tive, adjective
  • un·au·thor·i·ta·tive·ly, adverb
  • un·au·thor·i·ta·tive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use authoritative in a sentence

  • Who can help smiling at this combination of pompous authoritativeness and wretched short-sightedness?

  • It was the first time in his five years of office that one of his congregants had suggested such authoritativeness on his part.

    Ghetto Comedies | Israel Zangwill
  • There was likewise nothing startling in Bacons view of the Fathers, and their knowledge and authoritativeness.

  • Authoritativeness is characteristic of His mode of teaching.

    Modern Skepticism | C. J. Ellicott
  • Morality is morality, just because it possesses an absolute authoritativeness which they lack.

    Ethics | John Dewey and James Hayden Tufts

British Dictionary definitions for authoritative

authoritative

/ (ɔːˈθɒrɪtətɪv) /


adjective
  1. recognized or accepted as being true or reliable: an authoritative article on drugs

  2. exercising or asserting authority; commanding: an authoritative manner

  1. possessing or supported by authority; official: an authoritative communiqué

Derived forms of authoritative

  • authoritatively, adverb
  • authoritativeness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012