Luddite
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See also: luddite
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Named after Ned Ludd, a legendary example, + -ite.
Pronunciation[edit]
- Hyphenation: Lud‧dite
- (UK, US) enPR: lŭdʹīt, IPA(key): /ˈlʌ.daɪt/
- (US) IPA(key): [ˈlʌ.ɾaɪt]
Audio (US) (file) - (Canada) IPA(key): [ˈlʌ.ɾʌit]
Audio (CA) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
Noun[edit]
Luddite (plural Luddites)
- (historical) Any of a group of early-19th-century English textile workers who destroyed machinery because it would harm their livelihood.
- 2022, R. F. Kuang, Babel, HarperVoyager, page 482 (footnote):
- For instance, the Luddites, so maligned as technology-fearing machine breakers, were a highly sophisticated insurrectionary movement, composed of small, well-disciplined groups who used disguises and watchwords, raised funds and gathered arms, terrorized their opponents, and carried out well-planned, targeted attacks. (And, while it is true the Luddite movement ultimately failed, it was only after Parliament had mobilized twelve thousand troops to put it down – more troops than had fought in the Peninsular War.)
- (by extension, often derogatory) Someone who opposes technological change.
- 2012 October 24, David Leonhardt, “Standard of Living Is in the Shadows as Election Issue”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
- [Benjamin Friedman] added, "How long does it take the Luddites to be wrong — a few years, a decade, a couple of decades?" Perhaps just as important, what happens to the workers who happen to be living during a time when the Luddite argument has some truth to it?
- (by extension, casual) One who lives among nature, forsaking technology.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
19th-century textile worker who destroyed machinery
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one opposing technological change
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