CONSERVATIVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Conservative mean? 

• CONSERVATIVE (noun)
  The noun CONSERVATIVE has 2 senses:

1. a person who is reluctant to accept changes and new ideas

2. a member of a Conservative Party

  Familiarity information: CONSERVATIVE used as a noun is rare.

• CONSERVATIVE (adjective)
  The adjective CONSERVATIVE has 5 senses:

1. resistant to change, particularly in relation to politics or religion

2. having social or political views favoring conservatism

3. avoiding excess

4. unimaginatively conventional

5. conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class

  Familiarity information: CONSERVATIVE used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONSERVATIVE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who is reluctant to accept changes and new ideas

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

conservative; conservativist

Hypernyms ("conservative" is a kind of...):

adult; grownup (a fully developed person from maturity onward)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "conservative"):

capitalist (a conservative advocate of capitalism)

conformist (someone who conforms to established standards of conduct (especially in religious matters))

fuddy-duddy (a conservative who is old-fashioned or dull in attitude or appearance)

hardliner (a conservative who is uncompromising)

minimalist (a conservative who advocates only minor reforms in government or politics)

mossback (an extremely old-fashioned conservative)

neocon; neoconservative (a conservative who subscribes to neoconservatism)

extreme right-winger; reactionary; ultraconservative (an extreme conservative; an opponent of progress or liberalism)

right-winger; rightist (a member of a right wing political party)

square; square toes (a formal and conservative person with old-fashioned views)

diehard; traditionalist (one who adheres to traditional views)

Antonym:

liberal (a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties)

Derivation:

conservativism (a political or theological orientation advocating the preservation of the best in society and opposing radical changes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A member of a Conservative Party

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Conservative" is a kind of...):

fellow member; member (one of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participate in a group organization))

• CONSERVATIVE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Resistant to change, particularly in relation to politics or religion

Similar:

blimpish (pompously ultraconservative and nationalistic)

buttoned-up (conservative in professional manner)

fusty; nonprogressive; standpat; unprogressive (old-fashioned and out of date)

hidebound; traditionalist (stubbornly conservative and narrow-minded)

ultraconservative (extremely conservative)

Also:

orthodox (adhering to what is commonly accepted)

right (of or belonging to the political or intellectual right)

Attribute:

ideology; political orientation; political theory (an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group or nation)

Antonym:

liberal (tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Having social or political views favoring conservatism

Similar:

right (of or belonging to the political or intellectual right)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Avoiding excess

Synonyms:

cautious; conservative

Context example:

a conservative estimate

Similar:

moderate (being within reasonable or average limits; not excessive or extreme)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Unimaginatively conventional

Synonyms:

button-down; buttoned-down; conservative

Context example:

a colorful character in the buttoned-down, dull-grey world of business

Similar:

conventional (unimaginative and conformist)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class

Synonyms:

bourgeois; conservative; materialistic

Context example:

a bourgeois mentality

Similar:

middle-class (occupying a socioeconomic position intermediate between those of the lower classes and the wealthy)

 Context examples 

The study said the figure of 9 million premature deaths a year is a conservative estimate and that the actual number is likely to be much higher.

(Pollution is the World’s No. 1 Killer, VOA)

If you don’t anticipate higher than usual spending on the horizon, slow down and be financially conservative until you see what comes up.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I estimated its circumference at twenty-five miles, its width as varying from two to five miles; while my most conservative calculation placed on its beaches two hundred thousand seals.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

You will please note that we have increased your royalties to twenty per cent, which is about as high as a conservative publishing house dares go.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He was, I remember, extremely well connected, and even when we were all little boys together we knew that his mother’s brother was Lord Holdhurst, the great conservative politician.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The highly conservative hSWI/SNF multisubunit complexes contain hBRM or BRG1 ATPases which alter the histone-DNA contacts enabling the access of general transcription factors to promoter regions.

(hSWI-SNF Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The vast majority of patients have an excellent prognosis following conservative therapy.

(Atypical Fibroxanthoma, NCI Thesaurus)

From his spats to his gold-rimmed spectacles he was a Conservative, a churchman, a good citizen, orthodox and conventional to the last degree.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Using less costly alternatives such as peritoneal dialysis or comprehensive conservative care – support in managing the disease without dialysis or a transplant – may be preferable in places with limited resources.

(Managing diabetes key to lowering kidney disease, SciDev.Net)

Conservative procedures such as reduction of a luxated joint, including physiotherapy such as chiropractic treatment, massage, balneotherapy, acupuncture, shiatsu.

(Defined Procedure, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)