conservative

1 tending to favor established ideas, conditions, or institutions conservative baseball fans consider the new ballpark too modern-looking and plain ugly Synonyms archconservative, brassbound, button-down (or buttoned-down), die-hard, hidebound, mossbacked, old-fashioned, old-line, old-school, orthodox, paleoconservative, reactionary, standpat, traditional, traditionalistic, ultraconservative, unprogressive Related Words conventional, square; devoted, faithful, loyal, staunch (also stanch), steadfast, steady, true, true-blue; blimpish, neoconservative, Tory, ultraright, ultrarightist; dowdy, fogyish (or fogeyish), fuddy-duddy, ossified, set, stodgy; right, right-wing; antiliberal, antimodern, antiprogressive, antireform, antirevolutionary Near Antonyms anticonventional, antiestablishment, antitraditional, extremist, radical, revolutionary; nonconformist; advanced, contemporary, modern; lefty, radical, ultraleft, ultraleftist, ultraprogressive, ultraradical Antonyms broad-minded, large-minded, liberal, nonconservative, nonconventional, nonorthodox, nontraditional, open-minded, progressive, unconventional, unorthodox

2 not excessively showy dressing in conservative outfits so as to make a good impression at job interviews Synonyms quiet, low-key (also low-keyed), muted, repressed, restrained, sober, subdued, toned-down, understated, unflashy, unpretentiousRelated Words appropriate, becoming, fit, fitting, proper, suitable; modest, plain, simple, unadorned, undecorated; inconspicuous, unnoticeable, unobtrusive; graceful, handsome, refined, tasteful; drab, mousy (or mousey); practical, sensibleNear Antonyms meretricious; graceless, inelegant, tacky, tasteless, tawdry, trashy, vulgar; baroque, fancy, frilly, gilded (or gilt), ornate, rococo; overdecorated, overdone, overwroughtAntonyms flamboyant, flaring, flashy, garish, gaudy, glitzy, loud, noisy, ostentatious, razzle-dazzle, splashy, swank (or swanky)

3 having or showing a close attentiveness to avoiding danger or trouble made conservative investments, and so he wasn't ruined when the market went into a free fall Synonyms alert, cautious, chary, circumspect, careful, considerate, gingerly, guarded, heedful, safe, waryRelated Words advertent, attentive, awake, observant, regardful, vigilant, watchful; hypercautious; foresighted, foresightful, forethoughtful, provident, thoughtful; cagey (also cagy), calculating, canny, shrewd; deliberate, slow; ultracareful, ultracautiousNear Antonyms bold, brash, impetuous, rash, reckless, venturesome; asleep, inattentive, regardless; inconsiderate, thoughtless; lax, neglectful, negligent, remiss; imprudent, indiscreet, injudicious; absentminded, forgetful; inadvertent, unintentional, unplannedAntonyms careless, heedless, incautious, unguarded, unmindful, unsafe, unwary