Luddite

noun

Ludd·​ite ˈlə-ˌdīt 

: one of a group of early 19th century English workmen destroying laborsaving machinery as a protest

broadly : one who is opposed to especially technological change

The Luddite argued that automation destroys jobs.

Luddite adjective

Did you know?

Long before your Luddite friend was waxing poetic about how blissful it is to not have a smartphone, Luddites were protesting the textile machinery that was slowly replacing them. It was toward the end of 1811, in the vicinity of Nottingham, England, when handicraftsmen formed organized bands and began to riot for the destruction of the new machinery. Their name is of uncertain origin, but it may be connected to a (probably mythical) person named Ned Ludd. According to an unsubstantiated account in George Pellew's Life of Lord Sidmouth (1847), Ned Ludd was a Leicestershire villager of the late 1700s who, in a fit of rage, rushed into a stocking weaver's house and destroyed his equipment; subsequently, his name was proverbially connected with machinery destruction. With the onset of the information age, Luddite gained a broader sense describing anyone who shuns new technology.

Examples of Luddite in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Equally foolish would be a Luddite reaction to new technologies or attempts to censor what people can write about themselves or read about the outside world. —Branko Milanovic, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2011

Or is the therapist’s smug Luddite attitude somehow a threat? —The New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2024

The tactile flourish of a touchscreen gave Luddites the tools to chop samples and program drum beats with an efficiency that would’ve made J Dilla blush, but the novelty of such pursuits became a substantial roadblock to ever being taken seriously by those with pro studio bona fides. —Pete Cottell, WIRED, 2 May 2024

When an existential crisis hits Adam, a musical Luddite contemplating suicide, his betrothed returns to assist in regulating his ennui. —Nicholas Bell, SPIN, 14 Feb. 2024

Over 200 years after the Luddite uprisings, garment factory workers in fast fashion are still burning to death because of unsafe working conditions. —Diana Gitig, Ars Technica, 13 Jan. 2024

Los Angeles Times technology columnist Brian Merchant’s Blood in the Machine is a spirited and thoughtful recounting of the Luddite uprising in response to the Industrial Revolution, one that draws parallel after parallel to the present. —Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 22 Dec. 2023

The genie is out of the bottle Despite the possible changes to the labor market, Summers is hardly a Luddite or tech doomer. —Paolo Confino, Fortune, 22 Nov. 2023

The term Luddite is often used incorrectly to describe an exhausted and embittered populace that wants technology to go away. —WIRED, 28 Sep. 2023

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from Ned Ludd, 18th century Leicestershire workman who destroyed a knitting frame

First Known Use

1811, in the meaning defined above

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