Conservative

/kənˈsɜːvətɪv/ · noun

Meaning

A person who favors maintenance of the status quo..

Definitions by Sense

1. A person who favors maintenance of the status quo.
2. (politics) One who seeks to promote or preserve traditional values or institutions.
3. (especially US, Canada, politics) One who seeks to promote traditions in a particular domain (e.g. a fiscal conservative or a social conservative).
4. Cautious, moderate.
5. Tending to resist change or innovation.
6. Based on pessimistic assumptions, and on the low side.
7. (US, Canada, economics, politics, social sciences) Supporting some combination of fiscal, political or social conservatism.
8. (British, politics) Relating to the Conservative Party.

Example Sentences

During the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, this commitment brought him into frequent critical confrontation with entrenched forms of conservative thinking (in academic areas from history and social science to the more abstract domains of ethical and political philosophy),[…]

If there’s a down side to the film, it’s that “Soros” probably doesn’t devote enough time to the way its subject has become a favorite bogeyman to conservatives that paint him as the guiding hand behind grassroots campaigns by those intent on discrediting them.

The chef added a conservative amount of salt to the dish.

The curriculum committee at this university is extremely conservative.

India is a conservative land. The gods do not change.

At a conservative estimate, growth may even be negative next year.

Newspapers in "capitalist" ownership, universities presided over by "reactionary" governing bodies, broadcasting systems owned by conservative governments have all been known to influence public opinion in the direction of socialism, because this was the conviction of the personnel.

George Soros remains a favorite target of conservative conspiracy theorists, seeing his corrupting influence behind every liberal movement and within every nook and cranny.

Synonyms for conservative

Antonyms for conservative

Related Words

Word Forms

• conservatives
• more conservative
• most conservative

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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