Synonyms of reactionaries

reactionaries

noun

plural of reactionary

1

as in conservatives

a person whose political beliefs are centered on tradition and keeping things the way they are

reactionaries tried to stop the passage of the legislation extending civil rights

Synonyms & Similar Words

• conservatives
• rightists
• traditionalists
• right-wingers
• Tories
• paleoconservatives
• archconservatives
• conformists
• neocons
• neoconservatives
• right-wings
• rights
• standpatters
• diehards
• stuffed shirts
• bourbons
• fuddy-duddies
• squares

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• liberals
• progressives
• leftists
• radicals
• revolutionaries
• extremists
• revolutionists
• lefties
• left-wingers
• reds
• reformers
• reformists

2

as in veterans

a person with old-fashioned ideas

a reactionary in the nation's ongoing culture war, she seems to believe that watching any TV at all will rot your brain

Synonyms & Similar Words

• conservatives
• veterans
• fogies
• fossils
• mossbacks
• antediluvians
• fuddy-duddies
• stuffed shirts
• rightists
• stick-in-the-muds
• fuds
• Tories
• mandarins
• dodoes
• old hands
• old-timers
• old maids

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• moderns
• radicals
• liberals
• progressives
• hipsters
• trendies

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of reactionaries

Radicals such as Sumner also warned, presciently, that the Fifteenth Amendment did not go far enough, and that its flaws would ultimately allow anti-Black reactionaries to undermine its purpose. — Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 19 May 2026

Like Curtis Yarvin and other neo-reactionaries, Land abhors democracy. — James Duesterberg, New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2026

Yes, the movie’s reactionaries are ridiculous, never more so than when Penn’s comic-book antagonist is onscreen. — Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 3 Oct. 2025

When Atsu was first revealed as the game’s protagonist, reactionaries jumped to disavow the sequel, citing bad-faith reasoning that failed to hide their prejudices. — Alyssa Mercante, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2025