Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- adj. Characterized by reaction, especially opposition to progress or liberalism; extremely conservative.
- n. An opponent of progress or liberalism; an extreme conservative.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- adj. Opposed to change; urging a return to a previous state.
- adj. Very conservative.
- n. One who is opposed to change.
- n. One who is very conservative.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- adj. Being, causing, or favoring reaction.
- n. One who favors reaction, or seeks to undo political progress or revolution.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of or pertaining to reaction in general; consisting of or characterized by reflex or reciprocal action; reactive.
- Specifically Of or pertaining to political reaction; favoring reaction: as, reactionary principles or movements.
- n. A promoter of reaction; specifically, one who attempts to check, undo, or reverse political action.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adj. extremely conservative
- n. an extreme conservative; an opponent of progress or liberalism
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Examples
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Consequently, I believe the term reactionary NOW applies in its strictest sense to prog-wacks.
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So if a reactionary is a believer in order, a progressive is — a believer in disorder?
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"I've been much criticized of late," laments the senator over a lavish dinner with lobbyists, "by irresponsible people of course, for what they term my reactionary association with big business."
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Brege said she was interested in the case because it is an example of what she describes as a reactionary, exclusionary and punitive approach used in some Cumberland County schools to deal with discipline issues.
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“They throw around the term reactionary so lightly.
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Being reactionary is disprefered in so far as moralistic reaction short-circuits ethical critique (see “The Absence of the Abject” post).
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The men who wrote it knew all too well what the unlimited reach of a monarch could do, and they knew all too well what it was like to live in reactionary times; the American Revolution was still a vivid and recent memory at the time it was crafted.
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It doesn't matter though; she'll forever be in reactionary mode based upon her own poor judgment.
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Many of the Americans who sought solace for their frustration and fear in reactionary political movements were drawn from the old lower-middle classes, "men and women clinging precariously to hard-won middle-class lifestyles; people with valued but imperiled stakes in their local communities."
Caught in the Crossfire: Adrian Scott and the Politics of Americanism in 1940s Hollywood
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Ahad Ha'amoratzim: you call reactionary, ranting 'asking'?
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with...
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