Definition of Reactionary

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

Exact synonyms: Extreme Right-winger, Ultraconservative
Specialized synonyms: Bourbon, Blimp, Colonel Blimp
Generic synonyms: Conservative, Conservativist
Derivative terms: Ultraconservative

2. Adjective. Extremely conservative.
Exact synonyms: Far-right, Reactionist
Similar to: Right
Derivative terms: Reaction

Definition of Reactionary

1. a. Being, causing, or favoring reaction; as, reactionary movements.

2. n. One who favors reaction, or seeks to undo political progress or revolution.

Definition of Reactionary

1. Adjective. Opposed to change; urging a return to a previous state. ¹

2. Adjective. Very conservative. ¹

3. Noun. One who is opposed to change. ¹

4. Noun. One who is very conservative. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Reactionary

1. [n -RIES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Reactionary

reaction of degeneration
reaction of identity
reaction of nonidentity
reaction of partial identity
reaction propulsion
reaction quotient
reaction save
reaction time
reaction turbine
reaction turbines
reaction vessel
reaction vessels
reactional
reactionaries
reactionarily
reactionary (current term)
reactionaryism
reactionaryisms
reactionism
reactionist
reactionists
reactionless
reactions
reactivable
reactivatable
reactivate
reactivated
reactivates
reactivating
reactivation

Literary usage of Reactionary

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A History of American Political Theories by Charles Edward Merriam (1903)
"CHAPTER III THE reactionary MOVEMENT AFTER independence from Great Britain had ... What may be called the reactionary theory was the outgrowth of certain ..."

2. Law Making in America: The Story of the 1911-12 Session of the Sixty-second by Lynn Haines (1912)
"reactionary democrats were replaced by reactionary republicans as ... reactionary republicans gave way to progressive democrats as follows : Messrs. ..."

3. English Constitutional History from the Teutonic Conquest to the Present Time by Thomas Pitt Taswell-Langmead (1905)
"reactionary period in growth of liberty of opinion, 1792-1832. Freedom of the Press completely established. Lord Campbell's Libel Act, 1843. new trial. ..."

4. The Political Thought of Plato and Aristotle by Ernest Barker (1906)
"In his discussion of economics, the antithesis of "natural "reactionary and " conventional," on which he is not elsewhere inclined to lay Aristotle's0 ..."

5. English Constitutional History from the Teutonic Conquest to the Present Time by Thomas Pitt Taswell-Langmead, Philip Arthur Ashworth (1905)
"Mr. Fox's Libel Act, 1792- reactionary period in growth of liberty of opinion, 1792-1832. Freedom of the Press completely established. ..."

6. A History of European Thought in the Nineteenth Century by John Theodore Merz (1907)
"We. may say that the thought of ¡he century in its practical bearings is partly radical, partly reactionary,—meaning by the former all those constructive ..."

7. The Cost of Something for Nothing by John Peter Altgeld (1904)
"reactionary EFFECT OF HUMAN CONDUCT Slowly, and at fearful cost, mankind is learning that the taking of something for nothing is suicidal, ..."

8. The Beginnings of the English Romantic Movement: A Study in Eighteenth by William Lyon Phelps (1893)
"reactionary TENDENCIES DURING THE AUGUSTAN AGE. IN support of the proposition that the spirit of Romanticism has never been wholly extinct in English ..."

Other Resources:

Search for Reactionary on Dictionary.com!Search for Reactionary on Thesaurus.com!Search for Reactionary on Google!Search for Reactionary on Wikipedia!

Search