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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of reactionary
Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 10 Apr. 2025
Workforce pruning should never be reactionary or indiscriminate.
—Sherzod Odilov, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
This can help calm nerves and reactionary responses in a stressful moment.
—Jamie Griffith, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025
Prepare these budgets in advance to avoid making reactionary measures if indeed Social Security payments are disrupted.
—True Tamplin, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reactionary
Adjective
Councilors Erin Murphy and Ed Flynn have prepared separate filings for next week’s City Council meeting that are reactionary to Fernandes Anderson’s plans to plead guilty to two public corruption charges and resign from her $120,000 post.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 10 Apr. 2025
Workforce pruning should never be reactionary or indiscriminate.
—Sherzod Odilov, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
This can help calm nerves and reactionary responses in a stressful moment.
—Jamie Griffith, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025
Prepare these budgets in advance to avoid making reactionary measures if indeed Social Security payments are disrupted.
—True Tamplin, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reactionary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reactionary
Adjective
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The blog post that Trump showed Ramaphosa during the White House meeting was published by American Thinker, a conservative online magazine, about conflict and racial tensions in South Africa and Congo.—
Stephanie Burnett,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
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While conservative countries may enforce strict practices, Muslims in Western countries often do not.—
Caroline Love,
NPR,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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But newer spots such as Lucky Day, which opened in 2017, are expanding beyond Buffalo’s traditional menu offerings.—
David Allan,
CNN Money,
31 May 2025
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Candidates are largely barred from traditional campaigning, a policy to try to level the playing field among candidates with different campaign funds.—
Jack Nicas,
New York Times,
31 May 2025
Noun
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It was founded by Google veteran Jeff Shardell in Taos, New Mexico.—
Cathy Hackl,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2025
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Civilians, like Gene Burt, and veterans alike are honored on the Liberty Memorial’s Walk of Honor.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
27 May 2025
Adjective
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Martinez is 29 years old, stands at 5-foot-11 with a 72-inch reach, and fights in an orthodox right-handed stance.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
22 Mar. 2025
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But there should be no such wall—even in the most orthodox capitalist system.—
Paul Laudicina,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Reactionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reactionary. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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