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• conservative
  conservative

  adjective

  disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
• Conservative
  Conservative

  adjective

  of, supporting, or relating to a Conservative Party

conservative

American  

[kuhn-sur-vuh-tiv] / kənˈsɜr və tɪv /

adjective

1. disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.

2. cautiously moderate or purposefully low.

   a conservative estimate.

3. traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness.

   conservative suit.

4. (often initial capital letter) of or relating to the Conservative party.

5. (initial capital letter) of, relating to, or characteristic of Conservative Jews or Conservative Judaism.

6. having the power or tendency to conserve or preserve.

7. Mathematics. (of a vector or vector function) having curl equal to zero; irrotational; lamellar.

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noun

• conservatives
  plural

1. a person who is conservative in principles, actions, habits, etc.

2. a supporter of conservative political policies.

3. (initial capital letter) a member of a conservative political party, especially the Conservative party in Great Britain.

4. a preservative.

conservative ¹ British  

/ kənˈsɜːvətɪv /

adjective

1. favouring the preservation of established customs, values, etc, and opposing innovation

2. of, characteristic of, or relating to conservatism

3. tending to be moderate or cautious

   a conservative estimate

4. conventional in style or type

   a conservative suit

5. med (of treatment) designed to alleviate symptoms Compare radical

6. physics a field of force, system, etc, in which the work done moving a body from one point to another is independent of the path taken between them

   electrostatic fields of force are conservative

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noun

1. a person who is reluctant to change or consider new ideas; conformist

2. a supporter or advocate of conservatism

adjective

1. a less common word for preservative

Conservative ² British  

/ kənˈsɜːvətɪv /

adjective

1. of, supporting, or relating to a Conservative Party

2. of, relating to, or characterizing Conservative Judaism

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noun

1. a supporter or member of a Conservative Party

conservative Cultural  

1. A descriptive term for persons, policies, and beliefs associated with conservatism.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anticonservativeness
  noun
• conservativeness
  noun
• hyperconservativeness
  noun
• overconservativeness
  noun
• superconservativeness
  noun
• unconservativeness
  noun
• anticonservative
  adjective
• half-conservative
  adjective
• hyperconservative
  adjective
• nonconservative
  adjective
• overconservative
  adjective
• pseudoconservative
  adjective
• quasi-conservative
  adjective
• semiconservative
  adjective
• superconservative
  adjective
• unconservative
  adjective
• anticonservatively
  adverb
• conservatively
  adverb
• half-conservatively
  adverb
• hyperconservatively
  adverb
• overconservatively
  adverb
• pseudoconservatively
  adverb
• quasi-conservatively
  adverb
• semiconservatively
  adverb
• superconservatively
  adverb
• unconservatively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• conservatives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of conservative

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Late Latin conservātīvus, equivalent to Latin conservāt(us) ( see conservation) + -īvus -ive; replacing Middle English conservatif, from Middle French, from Latin, as above

Explanation

If you are conservative, you aren’t necessarily a card-carrying member of the Republican party (though you might be); it means you resist change. Conservative has the word conserve in it, which means "to hold on to, or save." In a drought, you want to be conservative in your water use. If you don’t get paid that much and don’t want to use credit cards, you’d better be conservative with your money. And if you dress in a conservative way, you prefer traditional styles to new trends and fads.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conservative Conservative conservatives

Still, there’s clearly a lot of resentment among some Christian conservative women about husbands who don’t do chores.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

Snell’s recent workload was another reason for the Dodgers to be conservative with his workload Saturday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

The White House invited scores of US officials, as well as conservative broadcasters, tech industry bosses, social media CEOs and other corporate executives.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

Shin’s professional expertise as a financial adviser mirrors her personal portfolio, which she described as conservative.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

Some researchers today regard this figure as conservative.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

He also highlighted the UK's "world-leading" AI Security Institute, which was established under Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and tests major AI models to improve their safety before they are released publicly.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Laura Anne Jones is a former Conservative who defected to Reform in the summer of 2025.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

However, the then Conservative Communities Secretary James Brokenshire rejected the proposal and said the plan did "not meet our criteria".

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

Appeared in the September 19, 2026, print edition as 'Jon Kyl, American Conservative'.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

We learned within days that a member of the Conservative Party, Clive Derby-Lewis, had been arrested in connection with the murder.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

"That's not going to appeal to waverers, or to moderate conservatives who might be thinking about defecting."

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

Parton was a virtuoso at staying, if not apolitical, at least a neutral zone of relatability for conservatives and leftists alike, each of whom had ways to read their lives into her storytelling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Protecting religious freedom and practice has been a Paxton priority since he became attorney general in 2015, generating loyal support from grassroots conservatives.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

The chain on Monday announced that Masino would step down as CEO on Aug. 10, following a logo change last year that angered conservatives and loyal customers.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

The conservatives in the organization did not want the temperance group to have any link to suffrage, women’s rights, or the divorce issue.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

Related Words

• right of center
• right-wing