as in conservative
a person whose political beliefs are centered on tradition and keeping things the way they are
a traditionalist who doesn't believe in expanding government
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Recent Examples of traditionalist
The country traditionalist has quickly achieved a high level of success in the genre despite only putting out his second major-label album at the end of August, past the end of the eligibility period.
—
Chris Willman, Variety, 8 Sep. 2025
Indeed, that’s why Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos has routinely resisted theatrical releases for all but a handful of his company’s many feature-length projects, and those mostly to qualify them for Oscar runs and traditionalist voters’ preferences.
—David Bloom, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
In recent years there have been efforts to make the language more inclusive—for example, by adding an asterisk to the plural (Lehrer*innen) to include males, females, and those who identify as nonbinary—which have been opposed by traditionalists and far-right groups.
—Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2025
Former Most Precious Blood parishioners said the fracture within the church since Ciucci was installed four years ago — in part because of more progressive Catholics clashing with a traditionalist priest — represents a microcosm of what’s happening within the local archdiocese.
—Elizabeth Hernandez, Denver Post, 22 Aug. 2025
Because love it or hate it — and all the doubles players who were cut out of the action and the purists and traditionalists really did hate it — this week, on these two days, and especially Wednesday night, this was a pretty big hit.
—Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
Optimists see faster, more consistent rulings; traditionalists fear a slippery slope toward outsourcing moral discernment.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Aug. 2025
Wedged in the far southeastern corner of the bottom of the continent, between South Africa and Mozambique, Eswatini is the last absolute monarchy in Africa, a status that bewilders modernizers and beguiles traditionalists.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 15 Aug. 2025
Tournaments relying on the human eye are not entirely immune to controversial calls, however, and the All England Club's move that comes after extensive testing last year is likely to only ruffle the feathers of the most staunch traditionalists.
—Shrivathsa Sridhar, Reuters, 27 June 2025
Chris Willman, Variety, 8 Sep. 2025
Indeed, that’s why Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos has routinely resisted theatrical releases for all but a handful of his company’s many feature-length projects, and those mostly to qualify them for Oscar runs and traditionalist voters’ preferences.
—David Bloom, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
In recent years there have been efforts to make the language more inclusive—for example, by adding an asterisk to the plural (Lehrer*innen) to include males, females, and those who identify as nonbinary—which have been opposed by traditionalists and far-right groups.
—Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2025
Former Most Precious Blood parishioners said the fracture within the church since Ciucci was installed four years ago — in part because of more progressive Catholics clashing with a traditionalist priest — represents a microcosm of what’s happening within the local archdiocese.
—Elizabeth Hernandez, Denver Post, 22 Aug. 2025
Because love it or hate it — and all the doubles players who were cut out of the action and the purists and traditionalists really did hate it — this week, on these two days, and especially Wednesday night, this was a pretty big hit.
—Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
Optimists see faster, more consistent rulings; traditionalists fear a slippery slope toward outsourcing moral discernment.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Aug. 2025
Wedged in the far southeastern corner of the bottom of the continent, between South Africa and Mozambique, Eswatini is the last absolute monarchy in Africa, a status that bewilders modernizers and beguiles traditionalists.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 15 Aug. 2025
Tournaments relying on the human eye are not entirely immune to controversial calls, however, and the All England Club's move that comes after extensive testing last year is likely to only ruffle the feathers of the most staunch traditionalists.
—Shrivathsa Sridhar, Reuters, 27 June 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for traditionalist
conservative
Noun
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In his second term, states’ rights, once a rallying cry for conservatives, are under pressure.—
Hailey Bullis,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Sep. 2025
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The current round of liberal hand-wringing about how conservatives have become far better at driving the political conversation stems in large part from Kirk.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Traditionalist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/traditionalist. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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