How do you use the word "authority" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "authority": Teachers shouldn't fall back on their authority. The students revolted against authority.

Authority Meaning

/ɔːˈθɒɹəti/

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounPower or right to make or enforce rules, give orders, or impose obligation; or a position having such power or right.

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

Sentence Examples

Teachers shouldn't fall back on their authority.

The students revolted against authority.

He exerted all his authority to make them accept the plan.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

potency dominance authorization

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

The principal has the ____ to expel students who break major rules.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The police officer has the ____ to arrest anyone breaking the law.

Word Origin & History

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₂owg-éye-ti Proto-Italic *augejō Proto-Italic *augeō Latin augeō Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin auctor Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin auctōritāsbor. Old French autoritébor. Middle English auctorite English authority From Middle English auctorite, autorite (“authority, book or quotation that settles an argument”), from Old French auctorité, from Latin stem of auctōritās (“invention, advice, opinion, influence, command”), from auctor (“master, leader, author”). For the presence of the h, compare the etymology of author.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"SIR PETER. Very well! ma'am very well! so a husband is to have no influence, no authority? LADY TEAZLE. Authority! no, to be sure—if you wanted authority over me, you should have adopted me and not married me[:] I am sure you were old enough." — 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, II.i:

"But in the meantime Robin Hood and his band lived quietly in Sherwood Forest, without showing their faces abroad, for Robin knew that it would not be wise for him to be seen in the neighborhood of Nottingham, those in authority being very wroth with him." — 1883, Howard Pyle, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC:

"It was widely seen as an attempt to deflect attention from the Comey controversy and re-establish some authority at the briefing room podium." — 2017 May 16, Dylan Byers, “Does anyone in Trump's White House have credibility?”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2025:

"The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff." — 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:

"No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. 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:

Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words