Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

reactionary

American  
[ree-ak-shuh-ner-ee] / riˈæk ʃəˌnɛr i /
Sometimes reactionist

adjective

  1. of, pertaining to, marked by, or favoring reaction, especially extreme conservatism or rightism in politics; opposing political or social change.

    Synonyms:
    ultraconservative
    Antonyms:
    radical

noun

plural

reactionaries

  1. a reactionary person.

    Synonyms:
    ultraconservative
    Antonyms:
    radical
reactionary British  
/ -ʃənrɪ, rɪˈækʃənərɪ /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characterized by reaction, esp against radical political or social change

"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

noun

  1. a person opposed to radical change

"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 Cultural  

  1. 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.

Other Word Forms

  • antireactionary noun
  • half-reactionary adjective
  • nonreactionary adjective
  • reactionarism noun
  • reactionaryism noun
  • reactionism noun
  • semireactionary adjective
  • unreactionary adjective

Etymology

Origin of reactionary

1830–40; reaction + -ary; compare French réactionnaire

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"If believing in God is reactionary, then we are also reactionary," he told his party's meeting in parliament on Tuesday.

From Barron's

This means the stock and options markets should be stuck in a volatile reactionary state for a prolonged period.

From Barron's

It won best film, best director for Anderson and best supporting actor for Sean Penn, who played reactionary villain Colonel Steven Lockjaw in the movie but wasn't in attendance.

From BBC

After all, what could enrage reactionaries more than a confident, gender-bending, anti-colonial Puerto Rican performing in Spanish on the country’s most mythologized stage?

From Salon

Arguing the change was reactionary to Beyoncé's win is easy but conversations had been happening for years, Jason King, the dean of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music, told the BBC.

From BBC

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.