reactionary

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

Extremely conservative; opposing revolution (such as the French Revolution); favoring a return to a "golden age" of the past.
Of, pertaining to, participating in, or inducing a chemical reaction.
In reaction to; as a result of.

noun

One who opposes revolution, wanting to reverse it, favoring a return to a past golden age, often used derogatorily by revolutionaires.

Pronunciation

/ɹiˈækʃən(ə)ɹi/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-reactionary.wav /ɹiˈæk.ʃəˌnɛɚ.i/ /ɹiˈæk.t͡ʃəˌnɛɚ.i/ /ɹiˈæk.ʃɪˌnɛɚ.i/ /ɹiˈæk.t͡ʃɪˌnɛɚ.i/

Word forms

reactionary more reactionary most reactionary reactionaries

Etymology

Borrowed from French réactionnaire, equivalent to reaction + -ary. Used in the time of the French revolution to refer to a person opposing the revolution; as in favoring a reaction against the revolution.

Synonyms

antiprogressive regressive

Antonyms

progressive nonreactionary

Derived words

neo-reactionary reactionarily reactionariness reactionarize reactionaryism

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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