disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
cautiously moderate or purposefully low.
a conservative estimate.
traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness.
conservative suit.
(often initial capital letter) of or relating to the Conservative party.
(initial capital letter) of, relating to, or characteristic of Conservative Jews or Conservative Judaism.
having the power or tendency to conserve or preserve.
Mathematics. (of a vector or vector function) having curl equal to zero; irrotational; lamellar.
a person who is conservative in principles, actions, habits, etc.
a supporter of conservative political policies.
(initial capital letter) a member of a conservative political party, especially the Conservative party in Great Britain.
a preservative.
favouring the preservation of established customs, values, etc, and opposing innovation
of, characteristic of, or relating to conservatism
tending to be moderate or cautious
a conservative estimate
conventional in style or type
a conservative suit
med (of treatment) designed to alleviate symptoms Compare radical
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
a person who is reluctant to change or consider new ideas; conformist
a supporter or advocate of conservatism
of, supporting, or relating to a Conservative Party
of, relating to, or characterizing Conservative Judaism
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
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ross Douthat, a longtime conservative voice on the New York Times op-ed page, has been hired as full-time correspondent on “60 Minutes.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The conservative 51-year-old won June's runoff by fewer than 50,000 votes and will govern until 2031.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
But even then, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has adopted a highly conservative stance against large-scale immigration.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
On the financial side, 28% of the entire group increased their emergency funds, and 33% shifted to more conservative investments.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Most new words are made up from other, earlier words; language-making is a conservative process, wasting little.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
“He is objectively great to look at, right? You can’t deny it,” said Lauren McEvatt, a former Conservative special adviser to the government.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Boris Johnson's Conservative government in 2021 planned to raise the means test threshold to £100,000.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The main opposition Conservative Party said any help was welcome but called on Burnham to spell out how he planned to pay for the measure, due to come into force in April 2027.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Jerome Mayhew, Conservative MP for Broadland and Fakenham, called the news "devastating" and said it could have wider cost implications for Norfolk farmers.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
February 12,1994, was the deadline for registration of all parties, and on that day, Inkatha, the Conservative Party, and the Afrikaner Volksfront failed to sign.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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
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
In their time, Great Society Democrats united conservatives and moderates in their party as well as moderate Republicans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
A unifying cultural figure beloved by both liberals and conservatives, Stapleton was the headlining act at a Fourth of July benefit concert that also featured Smashing Pumpkins, Chaka Khan, Maren Morris and Queen Latifah.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 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
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.
