Wiktionary
n. 1 (context of a person, institution, or written work English) 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. 2 One possessing this characteristic. 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.
Wikipedia
Moral authority is authority premised on principles, or fundamental truths, which are independent of written, or positive, laws. As such, moral authority necessitates the existence of and adherence to truth. Because truth does not change, the principles of moral authority are immutable or unchangeable, although as applied to individual circumstances the dictates of moral authority for action may vary due to the exigencies of human life. These principles, which can be of metaphysical and/or religious nature, are considered normative for behavior, whether they are or are not also embodied in written laws, and even if the community is ignoring or violating them. Therefore, the authoritativeness or force of moral authority is applied to the conscience of each individual, who is free to act according to or against its dictates.
Moral authority has thus also been defined as the "fundamental assumptions that guide our perceptions of the world".
Usage examples of "moral authority".
Existence among you is a giant pretense, an act you all perform for one another, each feeling that he is the only guilty freak, each placing his moral authority in the unknowable known only to others, each faking the reality he feels they expect him to fake, none having the courage to break the vicious circle.
And here is where the liberal feminist argument surely finds its strongest voice and its unshakable moral authority.
Neal, a wizard, not a sorcerer like Brother Narev, always seemed to feel,the need to prove his moral authority around Richard.
He believes that mankind can only advance, ethically, if they are all brought under the moral authority of the Order.
Do you think that'll give you more influence, more moral authority, more bargaining power than you'll get going to them first?
You are a greatly respected man, and could speak with moral authority I could never begin to command.
Each time they do it, they chip away, however slightly, at my prerogatives and my ministers' moral authority.