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powers that be

noun

Etymology

After Romans 13:1 in the Tyndale Bible and the King James Version. The phrase is a translation of the Ancient Greek αἱ οὖσαι ἐξουσίαι (hai oûsai exousíai, “the existing authorities”). The verb be is the archaic third-person plural present indicative form, equivalent to the modern are, and not a subjunctive.

  1. derived from αἱ οὖσαι ἐξουσίαι

Definitions

  1. The holders of power or the authorities in a given situation, especially if seen as being…

    The holders of power or the authorities in a given situation, especially if seen as being faceless or unreasonably bureaucratic.

    • [I]t appeared as though the hospital at Barchester would fall into abeyance, unless the powers that be should take some steps towards putting it once more into working order.
    • Whoever you elect, he will legislate in favor of ‘law and order,’ to protect things as they are. The main concern of the powers that be is that the people should continue to believe in and uphold the existing system.
    • Time is truly wastin', there's no guarantee / Smile is in the makin', we've got to fight the powers that be

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for powers that be. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA