Moral authority
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The quality or characteristic of being respected for having good character or knowledge, especially as a source of guidance or an exemplar of proper conduct. uncountable
"The people adopted the government they had framed, and thus gave it its moral authority."
- 2 One possessing this characteristic. uncountable
"At first Martin Luther King Jr. invoked Booker as a moral authority for King's ethic of love and his posture of passive resistance to white hatred."
- 3 The right or power to act (or direct others to act), based on the belief that the actor is moral, rather than on the actor having or needing some formal power to do so. uncountable
"Thus, when the military breaches the existing political order, it will be forced to claim a moral authority for its actions."
Example
More examples"The people adopted the government they had framed, and thus gave it its moral authority."