reactionary

adjective

re·​ac·​tion·​ary rē-ˈak-shə-ˌner-ē 

: relating to, marked by, or favoring reaction

especially : ultraconservative in politics

reactionary noun

reactionaryism

rē-ˈak-shə-ˌner-ē-ˌi-zəm 

noun

Synonyms

• archconservative
• brassbound
• button-down
• buttoned-down
• conservative
• die-hard
• hidebound
• mossbacked
• old-fashioned
• old-line
• old-school
• orthodox
• paleoconservative
• standpat
• traditional
• traditionalistic
• ultraconservative
• unprogressive

Examples of reactionary in a Sentence

reactionary guardians of proper English usage invariably regard every new coinage that comes along as a nonword

Recent Examples on the Web

Cutting a long story short, a vocal minority of reactionary gamers is perturbed that a sci-fi video game features a Black samurai protagonist, despite the game’s hokey premise centering on the genetic recording of memories written to computer software. —Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 8 Jan. 2025

And the rise of reactionary populism—not just in North America and Europe but also in India and in parts of Latin America—has shattered the ideological dominance that liberalism enjoyed for two decades after the end of the Cold War. —Alexander Cooley, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025

One was a group of reactionary racists and the other was fanatical Marxists. —Evan Thies, New York Daily News, 6 Jan. 2025

The Sun Devils were instead forced to punt and a reactionary firestorm began on social media. —Danny Davis, Austin American-Statesman, 4 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

reactionary

1 of 2 adjective

re·​ac·​tion·​ary

rē-ˈak-shə-ˌner-ē

: of, relating to, or favoring old-fashioned political or social ideas

reactionary

2 of 2 noun

plural reactionaries

: a reactionary person