the powers that be

idiom

: the people who decide what is allowed or acceptable in a group, organization, etc.

The students wanted to have a big party, but the powers that be didn't approve.

Examples of the powers that be in a Sentence

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Studio commissaries, cafeterias and executive dining rooms long have been spaces to surreptitiously goggle at visiting talent as well as places to be seen with the powers that be for girding one’s position in the corporate pecking order. —

Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Nov. 2024 Three days after England won the T20 World Cup in 2022, the powers that be had already agreed a three-match ODI series in the host country, Australia. —

Tim Ellis, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024 West had initially only pitched X to the powers that be at A24 but had ideas for a bigger trilogy in the back of his mind. —

Andrew Webster, The Verge, 12 Oct. 2024 Small wonder that the powers that be refused to rest until every pirate was reformed, jailed, hanged, or drowned. —

Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for the powers that be

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“The powers that be.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20powers%20that%20be. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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