as in conservative
tending to favor established ideas, conditions, or institutions
reactionary guardians of proper English usage invariably regard every new coinage that comes along as a nonword
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in rightist
a person whose political beliefs are centered on tradition and keeping things the way they are
reactionaries tried to stop the passage of the legislation extending civil rights
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fogey
a person with old-fashioned ideas
a reactionary in the nation's ongoing culture war, she seems to believe that watching any TV at all will rot your brain
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of reactionary
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
See all Example Sentences for reactionary 
Adjective
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
See all Example Sentences for reactionary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reactionary
Adjective
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Elon Musk is now a father of 13 after allegedly welcoming his latest child with conservative author Ashley St. Clair.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
15 Feb. 2025
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The Cubs’ next moves are expected to be very modest, league sources said, and that conservative outlook includes Tucker, Bregman’s longtime teammate with the Houston Astros.—
Patrick Mooney,
The Athletic,
15 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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One big hope is that increased physical play makes Sweden more competitive at the international level against traditional hockey powers like the United States, Canada and Finland.—
Steve Douglas,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Feb. 2025
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The includes the open banking rule, which has generally been well received by fintech players but opposed by traditional banks. CFPB finalized the rule at the end of 2024, with large depository institutions required to comply by April 2026.—
Lucinda Shen,
Axios,
11 Feb. 2025
Noun
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For Williams, the Hornets netted rookie shooter Dalton Knecht, veteran small forward Cam Reddish, the right to swap first-round picks with the Lakers in 2030 and the Lakers’ unprotected 2031 first-round pick.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
7 Feb. 2025
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At a recent school board meeting, Ray Joachim’s salary as an assistant instructor for veterans’ training class was increased to $250 per month.—
Contributed Content,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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But then, a chance encounter with an orthodox man on the Antwerp tram throws a wrench into her plans.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
15 Jan. 2025
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Around the same historical period, Israel instituted a divided education system based on nationality and religious observance, with four distinct school streams: Jewish secular, orthodox and ultra-orthodox schools taught primarily in Hebrew, and Arab schools taught in Arabic.—
Ayala Hendin,
The Conversation,
16 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near reactionary
Cite this Entry
“Reactionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reactionary. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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