Luddite

American  

[luhd-ahyt] / ˈlʌd aɪt /

noun

1. a member of any of various bands of workers in England (1811–16) organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment.

2. someone who is opposed or resistant to new technologies or technological change.

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Luddite British  

/ ˈlʌdaɪt /

noun

1. any of the textile workers opposed to mechanization who rioted and organized machine-breaking between 1811 and 1816

2. any opponent of industrial change or innovation

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Luddites

Other Word Forms

• Luddism noun
• Ludditism noun

Etymology

Origin of Luddite

First recorded in 1805–15; supposedly after Ned Ludd, 18th-century Leicestershire worker who in a fit of rage destroyed mechanical knitting machines; -ite ¹

Example Sentences

As someone with Luddite tendencies, I still find the whole idea a bit absurd.

From The Wall Street Journal

In Britain, displaced textile artisans engaged in industrial terrorism by destroying machinery such as looms in the Luddite Uprisings.

From The Wall Street Journal

“In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The Luddite Club, a nonprofit group that supports taking smartphone breaks, has 26 chapters, nearly all of them at high schools or colleges.

From The Wall Street Journal

In fact, I — a virtual Luddite — was able, over the course of three years of research, to imagine a reasonable plan that could take down a good chunk of the world’s internet.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• neophobe
• technophobe