reactionary
[ree-ak-shuh-ner-ee]
adjective
of, pertaining to, marked by, or favoring reaction, especially extreme conservatism or rightism in politics; opposing political or social change.
noun, plural re·ac·tion·ar·ies.
a reactionary person.
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RELATED WORDS
rightist, rigid, regressive, counterrevolutionary, traditionalist, right, obscurantist, Tory, ultraconservative, diehard, royalist, die-hard, orthodox, traditional, retrogressive, traditionalistic, old-line, standpat, intransigent, reactionist
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Sometimes re·ac·tion·ist [ree-ak-shuh-nist] /riˈæk ʃə nɪst/.
Origin of reactionary
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for reactionary
reactionary
reactionist
adjective
noun plural -aries or -ists
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
reactionary
1831, on model of French réactionnaire (19c.), from réaction (see reaction). In Marxist use, "tending toward reversing existing tendencies," opposed to revolutionary and used opprobriously in reference to opponents of communism, by 1858. As a noun, "person considered reactionary," especially in politics, one who seeks to check or undo political action, by 1855.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
reactionary
An extremely conservative person or position that not only resists change but seeks to return to the “good old days” of an earlier social order.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.