magisterial
/,mædʤis'tiəriəl/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Having or showing great authority or dignity, befitting a master or magistrate: Used to describe a person's appearance, manner, or behavior that commands respect due to its impressive, dignified, or authoritative quality.
- Domineering or overbearing in a way that suggests the use of unwarranted power: Describing a manner that is offensively self-assured, autocratic, or bossy.
- Relating to or characteristic of a magistrate or the office of a magistrate: Pertaining to official functions or authority.
Usage Examples
- Adjective (Authoritative/Dignified):
- She addressed the council in a magisterial tone that silenced all opposition.
- The professor's magisterial work on Roman history is considered definitive.
- Adjective (Domineering):
- His magisterial attitude made him unpopular with the junior staff.
- She dismissed the suggestions with a magisterial wave of her hand.
- Adjective (Relating to a Magistrate):
- He carried out his magisterial duties with fairness and impartiality.
- The magisterial court convened to hear the case.
Advanced Usage
- "Magisterial" in academic contexts: Often used to describe scholarly work that is authoritative, comprehensive, and definitive.
- The biography is a magisterial account of the president's life.
- "Magisterial" to describe artistic style: Can describe a grand, commanding, or imposing style in art, music, or literature.
- The conductor led the orchestra with magisterial control.
Variants and Related Words
- Magistrate (n): A civil officer who administers the law, especially one who conducts a court that deals with minor offenses and holds preliminary hearings for more serious ones.
- Magisterially (adv): In a magisterial manner.
- He spoke magisterially on the subject.
Synonyms
- Authoritative: Commanding and self-confident; likely to be respected and obeyed.
- Imperious: Assuming power or authority without justification; arrogant and domineering.
- Commanding: Having a position of authority; impressive and imposing.
- Autocratic: Relating to a ruler who has absolute power; taking no account of other people's wishes or opinions.
Antonyms
- Humble: Having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance.
- Submissive: Ready to conform to the authority or will of others; meekly obedient or passive.
- Unassuming: Not pretentious or arrogant; modest.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- "Magisterial disregard": A phrase describing a dismissive attitude that comes from a position of perceived authority.
- He showed a magisterial disregard for the standard procedures.
- "In magisterial fashion": Doing something in a grand, authoritative, or commanding way.
- The judge summarized the evidence in magisterial fashion.
Adjective
- used of a person's appearance or behavior; befitting an eminent person
- his distinguished bearing
- the monarch's imposing presence
- she reigned in magisterial beauty
- offensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted power
- an autocratic person
- autocratic behavior
- a bossy way of ordering others around
- a rather aggressive and dominating character
- managed the employees in an aloof magisterial way
- a swaggering peremptory manner
- of or relating to a magistrate
- official magisterial functions