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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

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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

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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

One conservative critic who heard young Bruch’s comic opera “Scherz, List, und Rache” noted with gratitude that unlike Wagner, Bruch preferred “naturalness and simplicity” to “overpowering material.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

“Public executions are soul-twisting and we should not go down that road,” the conservative radio host Erick Erickson said on social media.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

Small demonstrations were held outside Azerbaijan's embassy in Ankara, organised by Köklü Değişim, an Islamist movement linked to Hizb ut-Tahrir, and outside its consulate in Istanbul, organised by conservative Islamist group Özgür-Der.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Campaign for Accountability said Zacharia had described herself as a lawyer during television appearances and listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative nonprofit.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

Among the supposedly conservative Aboriginal Australians as well, there are receptive societies along with conservative ones.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Hilton earned a reputation as eccentric but savvy, pushing the Conservative Party to embrace same-sex marriage and more climate-friendly policies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Daniel Elmer, the Conservative leader of South Norfolk Council and county councillor for Keswick, said he will formally object to the proposed facility.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis told the BBC the innocent traders had been the victims of a series of miscarriages of justice.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Maynard was first elected to his Oxfordshire constituency in 2024, winning the traditionally Conservative seat, formerly held by David Cameron, with a majority of more than 4,000.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

This time, the twenty-six parties included Inkatha, the Pan Africanist Congress, and the Conservative Party.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

"This isn't just an issue on the left, there is huge pushback among conservatives to data centres," Chloe Autio, an AI policy adviser, said.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Libertarians, social conservatives, progressives, socialists and others could all make a pitch for whatever rights they favored.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 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

Then he gazed at the people gathered around him: liberals and conservatives, blacks and whites, men and women, middle-class and poor.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

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Related Words

• right of center
• right-wing

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