Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or characteristic of a master or teacher; authoritative.
- adjective Sedately dignified in appearance or manner.
- adjective Dogmatic; overbearing.
- adjective Of or relating to a magistrate or a magistrate's official functions.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of or pertaining to a master; such as befits a master; authoritative; hence, lofty; arrogant; imperious; domineering.
- Of or belonging to a magistrate or his office; of the rank of a magistrate.
- In chem., pertaining to magistery.
- Synonyms Authoritative, Magisterial, Dogmatic, Arrogant, Domineering, Imperious, Dictatorial, Peremptory, official, grand, haughty, lordly, oracular. Authoritative is rarely used in a bad sense. Magisterial, in the sense of having the manner of a master or magistrate, generally indicates the overdoing of that manner: as, magisterial pomp and gravity. Dogmatic reaches somewhat more deeply into the character; the dogmatic man insists strenuously upon the correctness of his own opinions, and, being unable to see how others can fail to believe with him, dictatorially presses upon them his opinions as true without argument, while he tends also to blame and overbear those who venture to express dissent. (See
confident .) Arrogant implies the assumption of more than due authority from an overestimate of one's importance. (Seearrogance .) Domineering, imperious, and dictatorial apply to the assertion of one's own will over those of others in the attempt to rule. Domineering suggests unfitness or lack of authority to rule, with an insulting, hectoring, or bullying manner. Imperious contains most of the real power of the will, suggesting a lofty or lordly determination to be obeyed. Dictatorial implies, on the one hand, a disposition to rule, and, on the other, a sharp insistence upon having one's orders accepted or carried out. Peremptory shuts off discussion: a peremptory command or denial is one that must be obeyed or accepted to the letter and without debate; it is positive, absolute, and often immediate.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to a master or magistrate, or one in authority; having the manner of a magister; official; commanding; authoritative. Hence: Overbearing; dictatorial; dogmatic.
- adjective (Alchem. & Old Chem.) Pertaining to, produced by, or of the nature of, magistery. See
Magistery , 2.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Befitting the status or skill of a
magister ormaster ;authoritative ,masterly . - adjective Of or pertaining to a
master ormagistrate , or one inauthority . - adjective Pertaining to, produced by, or of the nature of,
magistery .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of or relating to a magistrate
- adjective used of a person's appearance or behavior; befitting an eminent person
- adjective offensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted power
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The word magisterial gets kicked around a lot with reference to biographies of larger-than-life figures, but this time it goes double: Picasso has no rivals as the emblematic artist of the last century, and Richardson, now up to his third volume chronicling the painter's achievement, is well on his way toward giving his subject the biography he deserves. 14.
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Gals just don't figure, but the misogyny, kooky and magisterial, is all part of the fun.
Gender Bending 2005
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Gals just don't figure, but the misogyny, kooky and magisterial, is all part of the fun.
Gender Bending 2005
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Though I was sometimes described as magisterial, she was never so described.
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Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) is best known as the magisterial interpreter of Japan to the English-speaking world, a role he played after moving there in 1890, marrying a Japanese woman and then publishing a series of books in the West, such as the story collections "In Ghostly Japan" (1899) and "Kwaidan" (1904).
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At the far end is what might be called the magisterial approach: here a select group of academic administrators specifies which interpretations of the core doctrines and codes are to be propagated throughout the system, and then requires that everyone signs on to those specific interpretations.
Mere Orthodoxy 2010
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Maureen Kincaid Speller likes my story. (unless "magisterial" just means pompous)
Reviews Hal Duncan 2008
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Maureen Kincaid Speller likes my story. (unless "magisterial" just means pompous)
Archive 2008-10-01 Hal Duncan 2008
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This must be what CannedWest Ian MacDonald meant yesterday when he referred to Harper as "magisterial" and described how he "has assumed the mantle as well as the office."
Archive 2009-12-01 Dave 2009
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This must be what CannedWest Ian MacDonald meant yesterday when he referred to Harper as "magisterial" and described how he "has assumed the mantle as well as the office."
Harper : My tar sands trumps your planet Alison 2009
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