authoritative
/əˈθɔɹɪˌteɪtɪv/adjective
authoritative is spelled A-U-T-H-O-R-I-T-A-T-I-V-E. The wrong spelling people search most is authoritive: about 240 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Authoritative is an adjective meaning “Arising or originating from a figure of authority”.
How many letters and syllables are in authoritative?
| Letters | 13: A-U-T-H-O-R-I-T-A-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,122nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, authoritive, about 240 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell authoritative?
Authoritative is spelled A-U-T-H-O-R-I-T-A-T-I-V-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for authoritative in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is authoritative?
Authoritative appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce authoritative?
- UK /ɔːˈθɒɹɪtətɪv/
- /ɔːˈθɒɹɪtɪv/
- US /əˈθɔɹɪˌteɪtɪv/
Authoritative has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-authoritative.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of authoritative
- more authoritative comparative
- most authoritative superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does authoritative mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Arising or originating from a figure of authority.
The authoritative rules in this school come not from the headmaster but from the aged matron.
- 2
Highly accurate or definitive; treated or worthy of treatment as a scholarly authority.
This book is the world's most authoritative guide to insect breeding habits.
- 3
Having a commanding style.
He instructed us in that booming, authoritative voice of his.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Authoritative in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | officiel, autoritaire, autorisé , majeur |
| German | autoritativ, offiziell , vorherrschend, maßgebend, maßgeblich, führend |
| Portuguese | oficial, legal , definitivo, respeitado, completo, autoritativo |
| Spanish | autoritativo, oficial , fidedigno, autorizado , autoritario |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.