magisterial

[ maj-uh-steer-ee-uhl ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or befitting a master; of importance or consequence; authoritative; weighty:

   a magisterial pronouncement by the director of the board.

2. imperious; domineering:

   a magisterial tone of command.

3. of or befitting a magistrate or the office of a magistrate:

   The judge spoke with magisterial gravity.

4. of the rank of a magistrate:

   magisterial standing.

magisterial

/ ˌmædʒɪˈstɪərɪəl /

adjective

1. commanding; authoritative
2. domineering; dictatorial
3. of or relating to a teacher or person of similar status
4. of or relating to a magistrate

Derived Forms

• ˌmagisˈterially, adverb
• ˌmagisˈterialness, noun

Other Words From

• magis·teri·al·ly adverb
• magis·teri·al·ness noun
• unmag·is·teri·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of magisterial¹

First recorded in 1625–35; from Late Latin magisteriālis “pertaining to a teacher or magistrate” (equivalent to Latin magister “magistrate, teacher, master” + -ālis ); master, -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of magisterial¹

C17: from Late Latin magisteriālis, from magister master

Example Sentences

But Roberts has either developed a tin ear when it comes to public opinion, or—more worrying still—he has not just “frozen out” the liberal justices, as Kantor and Liptak put it last month, but has actually frozen out any feedback or media sources that might have warned him that the public mood was not going to be welcoming of near-blanket immunity from a coup-fomenting president, even if that decision came trussed up in magisterial language about the separation of powers and the safeguarding of the “unitary executive.”

From Slate

I give her a magisterial stare over the top of my reading glasses.

From Los Angeles Times

Compared with Pacino’s outraged and outrageous Cohn, spraying a vulgarian’s spittle across Nichols’ magisterial “Angels,” Strong’s performance is a model of white-knuckle control, swaggering when Cohn exerts his power, wilting when he can’t.

From Los Angeles Times

Dahlia Lithwick: I think one of the most fascinating pieces of reporting from the New York Times was the chief justice’s own conviction that if he could write the immunity opinion in some kind of lofty magisterial way, the public would say, “Oh yeah, this is obviously correct.”

From Slate

It’s been 50 years since the publication of The Power Broker, Robert Caro’s magisterial biography of New York City master builder Robert Moses.

From Slate

Related Words

• authoritative