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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

• Toryish
  adjective
• Toryism
  noun

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

Tory Gavito, the president of Way to Win, a progressive donor network and research organization, told Salon that she sees the autopsy as basically agnostic on what, if anything, the Democrats should stand for.

From Salon • May 22, 2026

Swinney won the nomination after three rounds of voting, with Alex Cole-Hamilton of the LibDems and Tory Russell Findlay eliminated in the first two rounds of voting.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

"We have nothing like this in America, and I think Eurovision is phenomenal because it brings everybody together," Tory Huflar, an American fan, told AFP after Thursday's second semi-final.

From Barron's • May 16, 2026

The SNP's Clare Adamson, Labour's Claire Baker and Tory Miles Briggs are understood to be in the running for the deputy role, which comes with a £114,297 salary.

From BBC • May 14, 2026

Mr. Heron was supposed to be a Tory; he wasn’t supposed to know where American commissary officers were.

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

Related Words

• archconservative
• counterrevolutionary
• regressive
• rightist
• ultraconservative