conservatism

noun

con·ser·va·tism kən-ˈsər-və-ˌti-zəm

Synonyms of conservatism next

capitalized

: the principles and policies of a Conservative party

: the Conservative party

: disposition in politics to preserve what is established

: a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions, and preferring gradual development to abrupt change

specifically : such a philosophy calling for lower taxes, limited government regulation of business and investing, a strong national defense, and individual financial responsibility for personal needs (such as retirement income or health-care coverage)

: the tendency to prefer an existing or traditional situation to change

religious conservatism

cultural conservatism

Examples of conservatism in a Sentence

the state's well-known conservatism means that progressive legislation always has an uphill battle

Recent Examples on the Web Times may be changing, but the Concertgebouw still has its pockets of conservatism. —

Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024 Today, however, Republicans dismiss concerns about a repeat, saying North Carolina is more shielded from culture war blowouts as once-fringe conservatism gains mainstream appeal. —

Danielle Paquette, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024 By 1980, Republicans had moved to fully embrace social conservatism in an effort to court religious white voters of all denominations. —

TIME, 2 Apr. 2024 While McConnell did not mention Trump in announcing his retirement as Senate GOP leader, the move was widely seen as symbolic of the party’s shift away from the traditional conservatism McConnell represented to one beholden to Trump’s divisive brand of populism. —

Sara Dorn, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Trump broke with many core elements of Republican economic orthodoxy, promising to never cut entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, which reversed decades of Republican fiscal conservatism. —

CBS News, 23 Mar. 2024 But the Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans, has gained a reputation for hard-line conservatism. —

J. David Goodman, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024 All these countries have recently experienced the combination of three movements: religious conservatism, nationalism and populism. Religion and nationalism: Old enemies, new allies In both Christian and Muslim history, nationalism emerged in reaction to the religious establishment. —

Ahmet T. Kuru, The Conversation, 1 Mar. 2024 But the authors find that their political choices are not primarily motivated by race, age, religion, or ideological conservatism. —

Jessica T. Mathews, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'conservatism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.