as in conservative
tending to favor established ideas, conditions, or institutions
reactionary guardians of proper English usage invariably regard every new coinage that comes along as a nonword
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in rightist
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fogey
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
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as in conservativeness
attitudes or opinions tending to favor established ideas, conditions, or institutions
the region's entrenched reactionaryism made it one of the major battlegrounds for the civil rights movement in the 1960s
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Recent Examples of reactionary
Bianca Salonga, Forbes.com, 22 May 2025
And so, amid the noise and smoke of the culture wars, Cobb’s quaintly reactionary act intersected with vituperative Trumpian revanchism, and Cobb became a conservative TV personality.
—Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
Not surprisingly, these responses produced a socially reactionary period that lasted through the 1940s and 1950s.
—Antony Beevor, Foreign Affairs, 7 May 2025
Not only in physical readiness, but emotional, psychological, and relational ones.
Self Offense shifts people out of a reactionary mindset and into a powerful, proactive way of being.
—William Jones, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reactionary
Adjective
Influencers are more reactionary by nature, so we are focused on inviting key journalists.
—Bianca Salonga, Forbes.com, 22 May 2025
And so, amid the noise and smoke of the culture wars, Cobb’s quaintly reactionary act intersected with vituperative Trumpian revanchism, and Cobb became a conservative TV personality.
—Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
Not surprisingly, these responses produced a socially reactionary period that lasted through the 1940s and 1950s.
—Antony Beevor, Foreign Affairs, 7 May 2025
Not only in physical readiness, but emotional, psychological, and relational ones.
Self Offense shifts people out of a reactionary mindset and into a powerful, proactive way of being.
—William Jones, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reactionary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reactionary
Adjective
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Nawrocki, a conservative historian and amateur boxer who was backed by PiS, had presented the vote as a referendum on Tusk's 18-month-old government.—
Anna Magdalena Lubowicka,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
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The attacks from Trump and his allies on Leo and the Federalist Society reflect rifts between the populist Right and the conservative legal establishment.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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But newer spots such as Lucky Day, which opened in 2017, are expanding beyond Buffalo’s traditional menu offerings.—
David Allan,
CNN Money,
31 May 2025
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Candidates are largely barred from traditional campaigning, a policy to try to level the playing field among candidates with different campaign funds.—
Jack Nicas,
New York Times,
31 May 2025
Adjective
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Martinez is 29 years old, stands at 5-foot-11 with a 72-inch reach, and fights in an orthodox right-handed stance.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
22 Mar. 2025
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But there should be no such wall—even in the most orthodox capitalist system.—
Paul Laudicina,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Reactionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reactionary. Accessed 7 Jun. 2025.
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