Noun
(of a person, institution, or written work) 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.
One possessing this characteristic.
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.
Source: en.wiktionary.orgA god that created the world and then walked off the site leaving it to its own devices is not a fit object of worship, nor a source of moral authority. Simon Blackburn
We need a regime change in this country.... If we launch a pre-emptive strike on Iraq we lose all moral authority. Jesse Jackson
Laws that oppress people have no moral authority. Richard Stallman
Our moral authority is as important, if not more important, than our troop strength or our high-tech weapons. We are rapidly losing that moral authority, not only in the Arab world but all over the world. Robert Reich
Truth is the secret of eloquence and virtue, the basis of moral authority it is the highest summit of art and of life. Henri-Frédéric Amiel
what you hear in my voice is fury, not suffering. Anger, not moral authority. Audre Lorde