Luddite
Americannoun
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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.
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someone who is opposed or resistant to new technologies or technological change.
noun
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any of the textile workers opposed to mechanization who rioted and organized machine-breaking between 1811 and 1816
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any opponent of industrial change or innovation
adjective
Other Word Forms
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; see -ite 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
My dad is pretty hip to tech, but my mom has always been a proud Luddite.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
“I’ve lived most of my life as a futurist, and I don’t hate technology. I’m certainly no Luddite — but I’ve had a lot of the hope sucked out of me in the post-COVID years.”
From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026
The Luddite movement, which predated the Swing Riots, was led by textile workers convinced that power-operated looms would permanently impoverish the middle class.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
If you’re reading this review of Gore Verbinski’s maniacal farce “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” in newsprint, congratulations on being a Luddite.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026
Here and there a Luddite holdout refuses to open an email account, just as thousands of years ago some human bands refused to take up farming and so escaped the luxury trap.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
