unreconstructed

American  

[uhn-ree-kuhn-struhk-tid] / ˌʌn ri kənˈstrʌk tɪd /

adjective

1. stubbornly maintaining earlier positions, beliefs, etc.; not adjusted to new or current situations.

   an unreconstructed conservative.

2. U.S. History. (of Southern states) not accepting the conditions for reinstatement in the Union after the Civil War.

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unreconstructed British  

/ ˌʌnriːkənsˈtrʌktɪd /

adjective

1. unwilling to accept social and economic change, as exemplified by those White Southerners who refused to accept the Reconstruction after the Civil War

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Etymology

Origin of unreconstructed

First recorded in 1865–70, un- ¹ + reconstruct ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

A casual listener might take Mr. Youngkin for an unreconstructed Reaganite, but he sometimes speaks effusively about the affirmative powers of government.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

It was a self-meming performance of the face of every woman who has ever been forced to listen to a bunch of unreconstructed insanity spewing from someone who has unidirectionally failed upward.

From Slate • Sep. 11, 2024

Flannery O’Connor’s thrillingly hard-edged tales about the unreconstructed South and its redemption-deficient malcontents will never lose their power to scratch us awake with their violence, humor and ugly truth.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2024

People interviewed for this article almost unanimously described the couple, who do not have children, as unreconstructed workaholics.

From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2020

I didn’t think it at all strange that a thirteen-year-old boy in the unreconstructed Southern town of Stamps spoke with an En- glishy accent.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

Related Words

• old-line
• ultraconservative