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

Within the video game industry, there’s been reactionary movements against including minorities and marginalized groups, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s lack of non-white characters caused a certain type of audience to rally around the game because its world and inhabitants are majority white. —George Yang, Rolling Stone, 3 Feb. 2025

Especially in the genre of political comedy, which tends to be reactionary across all party identifications, Wood works with purpose and clear intention. —Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2025

One of our missions is to be visionary, not reactionary. —Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 30 Jan. 2025

Drysdale agreed with Tortorella in that he’s been better lately at simply being more reactionary. —Kevin Kurz, The Athletic, 25 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