prerogative
/pri'rɔgətiv/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class: A prerogative is a special right, power, or privilege that belongs to a specific person, group, or office, often due to their rank, status, or position. It implies an advantage not available to others.
Usage
- The word "prerogative" is a formal noun. It is used to describe an exclusive right that is not subject to the usual rules or controls.
- It is often used in contexts of leadership, authority, tradition, or law.
- Common collocations include: , , , .
Examples
- Noun:
- The president has the prerogative to grant pardons.
- It is the manager's prerogative to make the final hiring decision.
- Choosing where to live is a personal prerogative.
Advanced Usage
- "The royal prerogative": In constitutional law, this refers to the residual powers and authorities legally vested in a monarch or head of state.
- The power to declare war is often exercised under the royal prerogative.
- "It's your prerogative": A common phrase meaning "it is your exclusive right to choose or decide."
- You don't have to explain your choice; it's your prerogative.
Variants and Related Words
- Prerogatived (adj, archaic): Endowed with a prerogative.
- Prerogatively (adv, rare): In a manner relating to a prerogative.
Synonyms
- Privilege: A special right or advantage granted to a particular person or group.
- Prerogative often implies a right due to status or office, while privilege can be broader.
- Prerogative is more exclusive and inherent; privilege can sometimes be granted or earned.
- Right: A moral or legal entitlement.
- Prerogative is a specific type of right that is exclusive.
- Prerogative is more specific and formal than the general term right.
- Prerilege: A special advantage or immunity.
- Prerogative and prerilege are very close synonyms, but prerilege is less common.
- Authority: The power or right to give orders or make decisions.
- Prerogative is a specific right that constitutes part of one's authority.
- Authority is a broader concept encompassing power and control.
Antonyms
- Duty: A moral or legal obligation.
- Responsibility: The state of being accountable for something.
- While a prerogative is a right, a duty or responsibility is an obligation.
- Prohibition: The action of forbidding something.
- A prerogative grants a right, whereas a prohibition takes it away.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- "Exercise one's prerogative": To use or act upon one's exclusive right.
- The CEO exercised her prerogative to veto the proposal.
- "Within one's prerogative": Falling under the scope of one's exclusive right.
- Changing the meeting time was within his prerogative as the chair.
Noun
- a right reserved exclusively by a particular person or group (especially a hereditary or official right)
- suffrage was the prerogative of white adult males