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• Tory
  Tory

  noun

  a member of the Conservative Party in Great Britain or Canada.
• -tory
  -tory

  a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, originally adjectival derivatives of agent nouns ending in -tor (predatory ); also forming adjectival derivatives directly from verbs (obligatory; transitory ).

Tory

¹ American  

[tawr-ee, tohr-ee] / ˈtɔr i, ˈtoʊr i /

noun

• Tories
  plural

1. a member of the Conservative Party in Great Britain or Canada.

2. a member of a political party in Great Britain from the late 17th century to about 1832 that favored royal authority over Parliament and the preservation of the existing social and political order: succeeded by the Conservative party.

3. (often lowercase) an advocate of conservative principles; one opposed to reform or radicalism.

4. a person who supported the British cause in the American Revolution; a loyalist.

5. (in the 17th century) a dispossessed Irishman who resorted to banditry, especially after the invasion of Oliver Cromwell and suppression of the royalist cause (1649–52).

6. a male or female given name.

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adjective

1. of, belonging to, or characteristic of the Tories.

2. being a Tory.

3. (sometimes lowercase) opposed to reform or radicalism; conservative.

-tory ² American  

1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, originally adjectival derivatives of agent nouns ending in -tor (predatory ); also forming adjectival derivatives directly from verbs (obligatory; transitory ).

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-tory ³ American  

1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, usually derivatives from agent nouns ending in -tor or directly from verbs, denoting a place or object appropriate for the activity of the verb: dormitory; repository .

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Tory British  

/ ˈtɔːrɪ /

noun

1. a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain or Canada

2. a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s

3. an American supporter of the British cause; loyalist Compare Whig

4. (sometimes not capital) an ultraconservative or reactionary

5. (in the 17th century) an Irish Roman Catholic, esp an outlaw who preyed upon English settlers

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adjective

1. of, characteristic of, or relating to Tories

2. (sometimes not capital) ultraconservative or reactionary

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Toryism
  noun
• Toryish
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Tories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Tory¹

1640–50; < Irish *tóraighe outlaw, bandit, derivative of tóir chase, pursuit

Origin of -tory²

< Latin -tōrius, equivalent to -tōr- -tor + -ius adj. suffix

Origin of -tory³

< Latin -tōrium, noun use of neuter of -tōrius -tory ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tory Tories

BBC News speaks to young Tory members about who they would vote for if their party didn't exist.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

After serving as a Conservative councillor in London, he was put on the selection list for the safe Tory seat of Louth in Lincolnshire.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

"The club face unprecedented allegations and fans are horrified by what they are reading in the papers," the Tory MP said.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay praised the "extraordinary bravery" of survivors but urged ministers to strengthen bail laws and "robustly enforce breaches".

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

I didn’t feel much like being a Tory anymore.

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Montgomerie defected from the Tories 18 months ago but was suspended from Reform UK last month after he criticised senior figures.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

The politician became a household name in the 1990s due to her socially conservative views that put her on the right of the Tories.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

Reed, too, said this time was very different as the Tories had repeatedly changed leader while in government.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

You can’t entirely blame him: It was he, after all, who led Labour to its historic July 2024 victory over Sunak and the Tories, winning 411 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons.

From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026

I wonder at the fate there of Mr. Turner, whether he is fled; and whether Sip of the orchestra was removed with the Army and the Tories.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• archconservative
• counterrevolutionary
• regressive
• rightist
• ultraconservative