neoconservative

noun

neo·​con·​ser·​va·​tive ˌnē-ō-kən-ˈsər-və-tiv 

plural neoconservatives

1

: a former U.S. liberal espousing political conservatism and social conservatism

"They" are neoconservatives, the movement of former liberals who moved sharply rightward in the '60s and '70s …

—Eric Fettman

The word "neoconservative" originally referred to former liberals and leftists who were dismayed by the countercultural movements of the 1960s and the Great Society, and adopted conservative views, for example, against government welfare programs, and in favor of interventionist foreign policies.

—Elizabeth Drew

The original neoconservatives, then, were truly new conservatives …

—Paul Krause

called also neocon

2

: a U.S. conservative who calls for the assertive promotion of democracy and national interest in international affairs including through military means

… the dreams of neoconservatives who sought to remake the world in America's image.

—William Astore

While definitions vary, "neoconservative" generally refers to formerly moderate policy advocates who favor a hawkish and assertive foreign policy to implant democracy and American values abroad.

—Paul Richter

Liberal internationalists count on globalization, neoconservatives on democratization to get us to the sunny uplands of international harmony.

—Charles Krauthammer

called also neocon

neoconservatism

ˌnē-ō-kən-ˈsər-və-ˌti-zəm 

noun

Neoconservatism, whatever its complex roots, has become indelibly associated with concepts like coercive regime change, unilateralism and American hegemony. What is needed now are new ideas, neither neoconservative nor realist, for how America is to relate to the rest of the world—ideas that retain the neoconservative belief in the universality of human rights, but without its illusions about the efficacy of American power and hegemony to bring these ends about.

—Francis Fukayama

neoconservative adjective

neoconservative ideology

Examples of neoconservative in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Panelists suggested ever more intricate ways to give regional peace a chance, until the neoconservative Michael Ledeen spoke out heretically. —Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 2 Sep. 2025

Remarkably, the one issue that once unified evangelicals, neoconservatives, and grassroots Republicans—unwavering support for Israel—is now fracturing. —Faisal Kutty, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025

Wielding the language of liberal internationalism to justify ruinous intervention abroad has long been the modus operandi of the neoconservatives, who, since the ascendancy of Trump over the Republican Party, have gravitated back to their original home among the Democrats. —Anatol Lieven, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025

Trump is fusing this use of American power, which the neoconservatives and George W. Bush had no qualms about, to a much more aggressive vision of national interest. —Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

neo- + conservative entry 2

First Known Use

1974, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for neoconservative

• conservative
• preservative