WordNet
n. someone with the power to settle matters at will; "she was the final arbiter on all matters of fashion" [syn: arbiter]
Usage examples of "supreme authority".
The bishops acknowledged the supreme authority which resided in the assembly of their brethren.
In all musical affairs he was the supreme authority for the entire country.
What evil can arise from the quantity in any hand whilst the supreme authority has the full, sovereign superintendence over this, as over all property, to prevent every species of abuse, and, whenever it notably deviates, to give to it a direction agreeable to the purposes of its institution?
At last the tribune yielded to the supreme authority of the consul and dropped his measure.
For you do not seem even now to be aware to what lengths of folly you have gone or what criminal recklessness you have been guilty of towards me, towards your country, your parents and your children, towards the gods who were witnesses of your military oath, towards the auspices under which your served, towards the traditions of the army and the discipline of our ancestors, towards the majesty inherent in supreme authority.
To them, the idea of absolute truth and being accountable to a Supreme Authority is laughable.
The supreme authority, outranking any personal opinion, any book, any revelation, was - as the Declaration of Independence puts it - `the laws of nature and of nature's GOD'.
Nowhere is greater satisfaction found than among the new local chiefs, the municipal officers and commanders of the National Guard, for never before has such supreme authority and such great dignity fallen upon men previously so submissive and so insignificant.