Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having or arising from authority; official.
  • adjective Of acknowledged accuracy or excellence; highly reliable.
  • adjective Demonstrating authority; commanding.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority; entitled to credence or obedience: as, “authoritative teaching,” Barrow.
  • Having an air of authority; positive; peremptory; dictatorial.
  • Synonyms Authoritative, Magisterial, etc. (see magisterial), commanding.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having, or proceeding from, due authority; entitled to obedience, credit, or acceptance; determinate; commanding.
  • adjective Having an air of authority; positive; dictatorial; peremptory.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Arising or originating from a figure of authority
  • adjective Highly accurate or definitive; treated or worthy of treatment as a scholarly authority
  • adjective Having a commanding style.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having authority or ascendancy or influence
  • adjective of recognized authority or excellence
  • adjective sanctioned by established authority

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The state-run Xinhua News Agency said Thursday that foreign media reports that Mr. Jiang has died are "pure rumor," citing what it called "authoritative sources."

    China Blocks Searches on Past Leader's Health Josh Chin 2011

  • The report compared the names of people on the tickets to what it called authoritative lists of Hispanic names developed by the U.S. Census and other researchers.

    East Haven Issues Half Of Tickets To Hispanics, Yet Group Is Less Than 6% Of Population 2010

  • The ideal parents ` style is what we call the authoritative parenting style which has a balance between correction and loving nurture and spanking can be an effective tool within that style of parenting.

    CNN Transcript Oct 27, 2009 2009

  • When people refer to it they usually preface it with the word "authoritative" or "independent".

    The Independent - Frontpage RSS Feed 2011

  • Steel Association (CISA) and the heads of more than 10 mills wrote the joint letter to Wen on March 11, asking him to take up the issue of rising iron ore import prices at a national level, the paper reported, quoting what it described as authoritative sources.

    FinanzNachrichten.de: Aktuelle Nachrichten 2010

  • The report compared the names of people on the tickets to what it called authoritative lists of Hispanic names developed bythe U.S. Census and other researchers.

    Las Vegas News - LasVegasNOW.com 2010

  • The report compared the names of people on the tickets to what it called authoritative lists of Hispanic names developed by the U.S. Census and other researchers.

    Ventura County Star Stories 2010

  • The report compared the names of people on the tickets to what it called authoritative lists of Hispanic names developed by the U.S. Census and other researchers.

    WRAL.com Top Stories 2010

  • SEAL database; most are completely ignorant of the ability to rapidly obtain authoritative verification or denial of claims regarding military service as a SEAL.

    Heroes or Villains? 2010

  • I will believe it when I see it in authoritative case law.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Diane Wood on the Second Amendment 2010

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