unreconstructed
adjective
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The reorganization and reestablishment of the seceded states in the Union after the American Civil War is referred to as the Reconstruction. The earliest known use of unreconstructed is by a writer for the Boston, Massachusetts, publication The Liberator, who in 1865 used it to describe Southerners who were not reconciled to the outcome of the War and the changes enacted during the Reconstruction. The word immediately caught on and has been used to refer to intransigent or dyed-in-the-wool partisans ever since. The word is also used outside of political and social contexts, as when a person is described as "an unreconstructed rocker" or "an unreconstructed romantic."
Examples of unreconstructed in a Sentence
Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 28 May 2024
Katznelson does not spare the reader the vivid, revolting details of the unreconstructed bigotry of many southern Democrats toward African Americans.
—Taeku Lee, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2013
The most direct criticism of Peltz came from Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a management professor at Yale who is an unreconstructed fan of Iger’s.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024
Affluent suburban libertarians, rural fundamentalists, ambitious pundits, unreconstructed racists, and fiscally conservative housewives all can and do claim to be Tea Party supporters.
—Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs, 1 Mar. 2011
See all Example Sentences for unreconstructed 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unreconstructed.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Unreconstructed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unreconstructed. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
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