reactionary

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English

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Etymology

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From French réactionnaire.[1] Used in the time of the French revolution to refer to a person opposing the revolution; as in favoring a reaction against the revolution.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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reactionary (comparative more reactionary, superlative most reactionary)

  1. (politics) Opposing revolution (such as the French Revolution); favoring a return to a golden age of the past.
    Synonyms: antiprogressive, regressive
    Antonyms: progressive, nonreactionary
    • 2011 September 29, Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →OL, page 25:
      There's a fairly simple reason for the embrace of radicalism on the right, and it has to do with the reactionary imperative that lies at the core of conservative doctrine. [] If he is to preserve what he values, the conservative must declare war against the culture as it is.
    • 2019 August 7, Marissa Brostoff, Noah Kulwin, “The Right Kind of Continuity”, in Jewish Currents[2]:
      [Jeffrey] Epstein was interested in transhumanism, a theory of human perfection via technological manipulation that—like its predecessor, eugenics—is shot through with racist and reactionary ideas.
  2. (chemistry) Of, pertaining to, participating in, or inducing a chemical reaction.
    • 2013, Brandon Smith, Are Individuals The Property Of The Collective?[3]:
      Psychiatry extends the theory into biology in the belief that all human behavior is nothing more than a series of reactionary chemical processes in the brain that determine pre-coded genetic responses built up from the conditioning of one’s environment.
  3. In reaction to; as a result of.
    • 2020 December 16, “Network News: ORR praises Network Rail's response to pandemic”, in Rail, page 13:
      The regulator noted that reduced service levels and passenger numbers helped deliver strong performance, with fewer reactionary delays.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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reactionary (plural reactionaries)

  1. (politics) One who opposes revolution, wanting to reverse it, favoring a return to a past golden age. Often used as a derogatory by revolutionaires.
    • 1921, Valentine Chirol, India, Old and New[4]:
      Hindu reactionaries, whose conception of a well-ordered society had not moved beyond the laws of Manu, fell into line for the moment with the intellectual products of the modern Indian University.
    • 2017 April, Andrew Sullivan, “The Reactionary Temptation”, in New York [Magazine][5]:
      It is not simply a conservative preference for things as they are, with a few nudges back, but a passionate loathing of the status quo and a desire to return to the past in one emotionally cathartic revolt. If conservatives are pessimistic, reactionaries are apocalyptic.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^
    2024 July 14 (last accessed), “Archived copy”, in Oxford English Dictionary Online[1], archived from the original on 30 June 2024:
    OED's earliest evidence for reactionary is from 1799, in Reply L. N. M. Carnot to Rep. Conspiracy 18th Fructidor (page 149).

Further reading

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Anagrams

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