-tory

¹

1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, originally adjectival derivatives of agent nouns ending in -tor ( predatory ); also forming adjectival derivatives directly from verbs ( obligatory; transitory ).

-tory

²

1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, usually derivatives from agent nouns ending in -tor or directly from verbs, denoting a place or object appropriate for the activity of the verb: dormitory; repository .

Tory

³

[ tawr-ee, tohr-ee ]

noun

, plural To·ries,

1. a member of the Conservative Party in Great Britain or Canada.
2. a member of a political party in Great Britain from the late 17th century to about 1832 that favored royal authority over Parliament and the preservation of the existing social and political order: succeeded by the Conservative party.
3. (often lowercase) an advocate of conservative principles; one opposed to reform or radicalism.
4. a person who supported the British cause in the American Revolution; a loyalist.
5. (in the 17th century) a dispossessed Irishman who resorted to banditry, especially after the invasion of Oliver Cromwell and suppression of the royalist cause (1649–52).
6. a male or female given name.

adjective

1. of, belonging to, or characteristic of the Tories.
2. being a Tory.
3. (sometimes lowercase) opposed to reform or radicalism; conservative.

Tory

/ ˈtɔːrɪ /

noun

1. a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain or Canada
2. a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s
3. See Whig
   an American supporter of the British cause; loyalist Compare Whig
4. sometimes not capital an ultraconservative or reactionary
5. (in the 17th century) an Irish Roman Catholic, esp an outlaw who preyed upon English settlers

adjective

1. of, characteristic of, or relating to Tories
2. sometimes not capital ultraconservative or reactionary

Derived Forms

• ˈToryism, noun
• ˈToryish, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of -tory¹

< Latin -tōrius, equivalent to -tōr- -tor + -ius adj. suffix

Origin of -tory²

< Latin -tōrium, noun use of neuter of -tōrius -tory ¹

Origin of -tory³

1640–50; < Irish *tóraighe outlaw, bandit, derivative of tóir chase, pursuit

Word History and Origins

Origin of -tory¹

C17: from Irish tōraidhe outlaw, from Middle Irish tōir pursuit

Example Sentences

Newmark was approached online by “Sophie Wittams,” a blond, flirty, “twentysomething Tory PR girl.”

From The Daily Beast

The map is mostly blue for Tory, after the last national election, when the Conservatives gained.

From The Daily Beast

Of the 59 MPs elected to represent Scotland in the current U.K. Parliament, only one is a Tory.

From The Daily Beast

“A Tory minister stepped out of the shadows to confront me,” Danczuk wrote in The Guardian.

From The Daily Beast

Sniffing Tory conspiracies under every Whitehall bed, ours specially?

From The Daily Beast

Well, 'Utchinson done very well; it's a strong Tory seat, is Croydon.

From Project Gutenberg

The Tory gentry, who were powerful in all the counties, had special grievances.

From Project Gutenberg

At last some ingenious Tory thought of a device by which it might be possible to strike the enemy without wounding friends.

From Project Gutenberg

I defend civilisation for the thing it is, for the thing it has come to be, the standpoint of a real old Tory.

From Project Gutenberg

It's a fact that the Tory total figures out much larger than the Liberal Unionist.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• archconservative
• counterrevolutionary
• regressive
• rightist
• ultraconservative