authoritative

adjective

au·thor·i·ta·tive | \ə-ˈthär-ə-ˌtā-tiv,

ȯ-, -ˈthȯr-\

Definition of authoritative

1 : having, marked by, or proceeding from authority authoritative church doctrines an authoritative decision an authoritative manner

2 : possessing recognized or evident authority : clearly accurate or knowledgeable an authoritative critique an authoritative source of information

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Examples of authoritative in a Sentence

The book is an authoritative guide to the city's restaurants. His manner is polite but authoritative. She addressed the group with an authoritative voice.

Recent Examples on the Web

Here was the professor at his best: clear, authoritative, dramatic. — Johnforristerross, Longreads, "Taming the Great American Desert," 2 July 2018 Today's Google Assistant requires authoritative, direct, perfect speech in order to process a command. — Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, "Talking to Google Duplex: Google’s human-like phone AI feels revolutionary," 27 June 2018 Like President Trump, many leaders, including myself, try to follow an authoritative leadership style requiring a highly loyal, trusted group of advisors, that understand the vision being set and can support the implementation of decisions. — Erin Arvedlund, Philly.com, "Trump fires Tillerson. So what do Philly CEOs think and how do they fire people?," 13 Mar. 2018 The book considered in retrospect as a whole is an admirably clear, straightforward and authoritative summing up of our present-day attitude toward the theatre and its outward expression. — New York Times, "Notes From the Book Review Archives," 4 May 2018 Identifying which news outlets are authoritative is hard enough in the United States, where people can subsist on completely different media diets according to their politics. — Issie Lapowsky, WIRED, "YouTube Debuts Plan to Promote and Fund 'Authoritative' News," 9 July 2018 Considered authoritative by experts, the CDC report contradicts popular story lines from both ends of the political spectrum. — Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, BostonGlobe.com, "Americans cling to Obama-era health coverage, despite political drama," 22 May 2018 The supporting cast is underserved in the trailer other than Jocko Sims looking authoritative and Tyler Labine looking painfully serious. — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, "NBCUniversal's New Show Trailers: A Critic's Ranking," 14 May 2018 With frequent appearances on national TV talk shows, his authoritative voice is more familiar than most political leaders'. — azcentral, "From climate to fry bread, 125 reasons to love Arizona," 15 May 2015

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'authoritative.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.