REACTIONARY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does reactionary mean? 

• REACTIONARY (noun)
  The noun REACTIONARY has 1 sense:

1. an extreme conservative; an opponent of progress or liberalism

  Familiarity information: REACTIONARY used as a noun is very rare.

• REACTIONARY (adjective)
  The adjective REACTIONARY has 1 sense:

1. opposed to political or social liberalism or reform

  Familiarity information: REACTIONARY used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REACTIONARY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An extreme conservative; an opponent of progress or liberalism

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

extreme right-winger; reactionary; ultraconservative

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

conservative; conservativist (a person who is reluctant to accept changes and new ideas)

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

Bourbon (a reactionary politician in the United States (usually from the South))

Blimp; Colonel Blimp (any elderly pompous reactionary ultranationalistic person (after the cartoon character created by Sir David Low))

Derivation:

reactionary (opposed to political or social liberalism or reform)

• REACTIONARY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Opposed to political or social liberalism or reform

Synonyms:

far-right; reactionary; reactionist

Similar:

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

Derivation:

reaction (extreme conservatism in political or social matters)

reactionary (an extreme conservative; an opponent of progress or liberalism)

 Context examples 

I am a reactionary—so complete a reactionary that my position is incomprehensible to you who live in a veiled lie of social organization and whose sight is not keen enough to pierce the veil.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He did it that night, and he did it well; and since Martin had made the biggest stir, he put it all into his mouth and made him the arch-anarch of the show, transforming his reactionary individualism into the most lurid, red-shirt socialist utterance.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)