Reverse Dictionary: AUTHORITY

ADJECTIVES
1175 — EYELESS having no fear of authority; lacking reverence or respect for authority → obs.
1382 — SUGETABLE subject to authority → obs.
1450 — PRESIDENT that presides or has authority; presiding, in charge → obs.
1450 — PUISSANT having great authority or influence; mighty, potent, powerful, strong, forcible → arch.
1548 — LORDING powerful, dominating, having presiding authority or influence; also, behaving in an arrogant, disdainful, or dissipated manner
1567 — SWINGEING powerful, authoritative → obs.
1580 — MASTERLIKE authoritative, magisterial; resembling a master; despotic, autocratic; exhibiting masterly ability or skill → obs.
1605 — MAGISTRAL authoritative, dogmatic; pert. to or befitting a master 
1632 — MAGISTERIAL assuming authority; dictatorial; pert. to one qualified to speak with authority 
1647 — MAGISTERIOUS exercising the authority of a master → obs.
1658 — PLENIPOTENT possessing full authority or power 
1688 — EXOUSIASTIC authoritative, pert. to authority → obs.
1905 — MISSISSING authoritative, assuming, domineering → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1905 — MISSUSY authoritative, assuming, domineering → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1999 — DRUMMED OUT OF THE GESTAPO FOR CRUELTY unduly authoritarian, esp. when applied to a senior police officer → UK sl.

NOUNS
..893 — ONWALD authority, power, rule → obs.
1000 — EYELESSNESS lack of fear or respect for authority → obs.
1230 — BANDON authority, jurisdiction, dominion, control; power of disposal, full discretion, or authority to deal with → obs.
1275 — EYELEST lack of fear or respect for authority → obs.
1374 — FAY authority, credit → obs.
1500 — PRESIDENCE a presiding; control, authority
1531 — SWINGE sway, power, rule, authority, influence → obs. exc. Eng. dial.
1581 — PRESIDENCY a presiding; control, authority
1603 — MAGISTRALITY authoritative character; the right to lay down the law or to dogmatize → obs.
1637 — SAY-SO an authoritative statement 
1650 — MAGISTERIOUSNESS assumption of authority → obs.
1651 — MAGISTERIALNESS assumption of authority; the quality of being magisterial → obs.
1655 — MAGISTERIALITY authoritative position; mastership → obs.
1765 — MAGISTERY authority → US
1768 — JACKBOOT authoritarian, arbitrary, and cruel rule or behaviour 
1835 — SAY authority, influence, voice → Sc. & Eng. dial.
1840 — IMPERATIVENESS authoritativeness; commanding quality 
1857 — SAY-SO final authority; directing influence 
1898 — AUTORITY authority → Eng. dial. obs. (Bk.)
1940 — CHICKEN an excessive show of authority; unnecessary discipline or regimentation, in either military or civilian life → US sl., orig. military usage

NOUNS, PERSON
1175 — UNDERLING a person subject to authority; a subordinate 
1661 — PUNDIT an authority, learned person, or expert 
1768 — TALE’S-MAN the authority for a statement; a person who brings news or originates a statement → Sc.
..19C — OLD BOY any oldish person in authority, as one’s father, a headmaster, etc. → colloq.
1812 — HIS NIBS a person in authority → sl.
1818 — PLENIPOTENT a person possessing full power or authority 
1840 — THE MACNAB the person in authority; the chief personage → Sc.
1841 — GAFFER a person in authority; a foreman; an overseer; head man 
1856 — HIGH MUCK a person of real or imagined authority; a self-important person → Amer. dial.
1856 — HIGH MUCKY-MUCK a person of real or imagined authority; a self-important person → Amer. dial.
1865 — HEAD SERAG a person in authority; the master or overseer → sl. (Bk.)
1875 — KING BEE a man in a position of authority or dominance → Amer. dial.
1882 — HIGH-UP a person in authority; a high-ranking, influential, or important person; the boss → colloq.
1882 — THE MAIN GUY a man in a position of authority, importance, or prominence; the boss; the leader → Amer. sl.
1885 — BIG MAN an important or influential man; one who is in authority → US colloq.
1886 — HEAD KNOCKER a person having primary authority; a boss, a foreman, etc. → US sl.
1889 — HIS GILLS → HIS JILLS an authority, a self-important person; ‘his nibs’ → sl., chiefly Aust.
1895 — MAN a person in authority, such as the skipper of a boat, or a male school teacher → Sc.
..20C — CHEESE an unworthy person in a position of authority → Amer. sl.
..20C — JOKER a person who is given authority but performs their work with irritating incompetence, thus a ‘disgrace to one’s profession’ → W. Indies
1902 — NEARDY a person in authority; a master; a parent; a foreman → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1903 — MAIN KAZOO a man in a position of authority or importance → Amer. sl.
1905 — TALE’S-MASTER the authority for a statement; a person who brings news or originates a statement → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1906 — HIGH MOGUL a person of real or imagined authority; a self-important person → Amer. dial.
1908 — BOSS-MAN a person in authority; an employer; a supervisor → Amer. dial.
1911 — HER GILLS an authority; a self-important person; ‘her nibs’ → sl., chiefly Aust.
1913 — HEAD PUSH the person in authority → US sl.
1915 — HEAD BOTTLE WASHER a person in authority; a foreman → sl.
1916 — HEAD a person in authority → Aust. sl.
1916 — HIGHER-UP a person in authority; one of the persons in charge; a member of the upper echelon → US sl.
1916 — THE HEADS those in authority → Aust. sl.
1918 — HEAD SERANG • HEAD SHERANG a person in authority; the boss or person in charge → Aust. sl.
1918 — THE MAN the person in authority → US sl.
1919 — HEAD BUMMER the person in authority; the chief, the boss → sl.
1920 — KILLJOY an authority figure → African-American sl.
1929 — HAMMER-MAN a man who exercises authority over others; an authoritarian figure → African-American sl.
1929 — THE MACGREGOR the person in authority; the leading man; the chief personage → Sc.
1930 — QUEEN BEE a person in a position of authority or dominance; a domineering woman or wife → Amer. dial.
1941 — HEAD GIRL a girl occupying a position of authority or seniority 
1944 — HEAD KNOCK a person having primary authority; a boss, a foreman, etc. → African-American sl.
.M20 — INDUNA a person, esp. a Black person, in authority; a foreman → S. Afr.
1960 — HO-DAD • HO-DADDY a person who claims knowledge and authority he or she does not possess → US surfers’ usage
1966 — BIG STICK a person of authority, as a police officer or foreman; a marshal → Amer. dial.
1966 — THE BIG BOPPER a person holding paramount authority → US sl.
1968 — HEAD BUCK-CAT a person in authority → Irish sl.
1968 — WARDEN an authority figure; a parent → US teen usage
1969 — HIGH JINKS a person of real or imagined authority; a self-important person → Amer. dial.
1969 — THE PEA the person in authority; the boss → Aust. sl.
1971 — REAL BARNBURNER an expert; an authority who makes an extremely strong case → US students’ sl. (Bk.)
1973 — HEAD NIGGER IN CHARGE • H.N.I.C. a Black person in a position of authority; the leader of an enterprise → African-American
1975 — GEEZER an authority figure → sl.
1979 — HER INDOORS a woman occupying a position of authority who is regarded as domineering → Brit. colloq.
1980 — HIGH MAN ON THE TOTEM POLE a person of authority and importance → Amer. sl. (Bk.)
1980 — SILK an authority figure → US sl.
1984 — HEAD BUMMAROO the person in authority; the chief; the most important person present; the manager → UK sl.
1988 — HEAD SHEBANG the person in authority, the boss → Aust. sl. (Bk.)
1989 — HAMMER a man who exercises authority over others → US sl.
1989 — HELL MASTER a person who overly authoritative or bossy → US student’s usage
1990 — BEAST-MAN a police officer or prison officer; any figure of authority → UK teen sl.
1990 — VIKING CHEAT an authority; a member of the Establishment; hence, an oppressor → W. Indies sl.
1992 — HEAD NEGRO a sarcastic reference to any Black authority figure → African-American sl.
1998 — BALEBOSS a person in authority; the head of the house; a store owner; a manager → Yiddish (Bk.)
1998 — HEAD LAR the man in authority → Yiddish (Bk.)
1999 — HEADKICKER a person in authority who is aggressive → Aust. sl.
2002 — HEAD NEGRO IN CHARGE a sarcastic reference to any Black authority figure → African-American sl.

PHRASES
1920 — YOU’RE THE DOCTOR I defer to your authority 

VERBS
1470 — TAKE to assume authority or importance → obs.
1567 — WIELD THE SCEPTRE to exercise supreme authority, to rule 
1648 — FACULTATE to invest with authority; to empower; to authorize 
1666 — WEAR THE BREECHES to have the real authority; usually said of a woman or wife 
1850 — BOSS AROUND to direct or control someone in an offensively authoritarian way → Amer. sl.
..20C — CRACK THE WHIP to assert authority suddenly or forcibly 
1905 — HAVE THE TAPE to have authority → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1905 — SHOW ONE’S MAN to use one’s authority; to domineer → Eng. dial. (Bk.)
1909 — WEAR THE BRITCHES to have the real authority; usually said of a woman or wife → Amer. dial.
1980 — WRITE THE BOOK to be very authoritative or seasoned; to be an expert → Amer. sl.