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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

A portfolio that only owns the S&P 500 is not a conservative choice anymore — it’s late.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

In Episode 1, you’ll hear how Gorsuch’s worldview was shaped by his iconoclastic mother, his reaction to life on a liberal college campus, and by young conservative movements of the 1980s.

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026

The company’s increased 6.8 billion euro commercial net interest income guidance for 2026 is conservative, Citi says, with Citi’s own estimate between 1% and 2% higher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Over the last 10 years, Paxton has championed religious freedom in court, often defending groups or individuals with conservative Christian views, particularly on marriage and gender.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

Once again in the South, the combination of sexual and economic dangers ignited a thunderous reaction, but members of the Citizens’ Councils followed a course of action suited to the conservative nature of their class.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

"All the girls in my office, we all kind of went, 'blimey, what was that?'," said Belton, a Conservative councillor in neighbouring Rochford.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Ann Widdecombe, the 78-year-old former Conservative minister and Reform UK spokeswoman, was found dead at her home in Devon last month with serious injuries.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

In British politics, Hilton earned a reputation as a zany but genius marketer who pushed the Conservative Party to embrace same-sex marriage and climate-friendlier policies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Born in London to parents who fled conflict in their native Hungary, Hilton began a career in politics with Britain’s Conservative Party after graduating from Oxford University.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Conservative whites began, once again, to search for a new racial order that would conform to the needs and constraints of the time.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Efforts to unfreeze the market before its natural thaw are where conservatives and progressives are finding common ground.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

But for liberals and conservatives alike, there were other aims, too, including a high school and maybe even college degree, and a stable job to follow it.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

Since Scalia’s death, his influence has grown especially with the younger generation of conservatives.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

Musk can be counted among the many conservatives who were angered by Nolan’s decision to cast Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and Elliot Page as Sinon.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Liberals and conservatives, traditionalists and reformers, white-collar officials and blue-collar miners, all remained loyal to him, not because they always agreed with him, but because the regent listened to and respected all different opinions.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• right of center
• right-wing