Definition of "magisterial" []

• Of, relating to, or characteristic of a master or teacher; authoritative: a magisterial account of the history of the English language. (adjective)
• Sedately dignified in appearance or manner: "She would appear on the porch and reign over the street in magisterial beauty” ( Harper Lee). (adjective)
• Dogmatic; overbearing: expounded on official protocol in magisterial tones. (adjective)
• Of or relating to a magistrate or a magistrate's official functions. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The word magisterial gets kicked around a lot with reference to biographies of larger-than-life figures, but this time it goes double: Picasso has no rivals as the emblematic artist of the last century, and Richardson, now up to his third volume chronicling the painter's achievement, is well on his way toward giving his subject the biography he deserves. 14."
• "Gals just don't figure, but the misogyny, kooky and magisterial, is all part of the fun."
• "Though I was sometimes described as magisterial, she was never so described."