authoritative

  • 1Authoritative — Au*thor i*ta*tive, a. 1. Having, or proceeding from, due authority; entitled to obedience, credit, or acceptance; determinate; commanding. [1913 Webster] The sacred functions of authoritative teaching. Barrow. [1913 Webster] 2. Having an air of… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2authoritative — [adj1] recognized as true, valid accurate, attested, authentic, authenticated, circumstantiated, confirmed, definitive, dependable, documented, factual, faithful, learned, legit*, proven, reliable, righteous, scholarly, sound, straight from… …

    New thesaurus

  • 3authoritative — [ə thôr′ə tāt΄iv, əthär′ə tāt΄iv; ] also [, ə thôr′ə tə tiv΄, ə thär′ə tə tiv΄] adj. [ML auctoritativus] 1. having or showing authority; official 2. based on competent authority; reliable because coming from one who is an expert or properly… …

    English World dictionary

  • 4authoritative — index arbitrary and capricious, assertive, authentic, categorical, certain (positive), clear (certain) …

    Law dictionary

  • 5authoritative — (adj.) c.1600, dictatorial (a sense now restricted to AUTHORITARIAN (Cf. authoritarian)), from AUTHORITY (Cf. authority) (q.v.). Meaning possessing authority is recorded from 1650s; that of proceeding from proper authority is from 1809. Related:… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 6authoritative — ► ADJECTIVE 1) reliable because true or accurate. 2) commanding and self confident. 3) supported by authority; official. DERIVATIVES authoritatively adverb authoritativeness noun …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7authoritative — [[t]ɔːθɒ̱rɪtətɪv, AM əθɔ͟ːrɪteɪtɪv[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED Someone or something that is authoritative gives an impression of power and importance and is likely to be obeyed. He has a commanding presence and deep, authoritative voice... Her smile was… …

    English dictionary

  • 8authoritative — authoritarian, authoritative These two words should be carefully distinguished as their implications are quite different. Authoritarian is generally used of people or their actions and has the unfavourable meaning ‘favouring or encouraging strict …

    Modern English usage

  • 9authoritative — authoritatively, adv. authoritativeness, n. /euh thawr i tay tiv, euh thor /, adj. 1. having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority: an authoritative opinion. 2. substantiated or supported by documentary evidence and accepted… …

    Universalium

  • 10authoritative — au|thor|i|ta|tive [o:ˈθɔrıtətıv, ə US əˈθa:rəteıtıv, əˈθo: ] adj 1.) an authoritative book, account etc is respected because the person who wrote it knows a lot about the subject ▪ the most authoritative work on English surnames 2.) behaving or… …

    Dictionary of contemporary English