Meaning of conservative in English
Table of contents
Pronunciation
/kənˈsərvədɪv/US accent
UK accent
to browse different examples of pronunciation.Classifying Adjective
conservativeDefinitions
1. opposed to liberal reformsSynonyms
- 2. avoiding excess
Examples
- « a conservative estimate »
Synonyms
- 3. unimaginatively conventional
Examples
- « a colorful character in the buttoned-down, dull-gray world of business- Newsweek »
Synonyms
- 4. conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class
Examples
- « a bourgeois mentality »
Synonyms
Noun
conservativeDefinitions
1. a person who has conservative ideas or opinionsAntonyms
Qualitative Adjective
conservativeEtymology
late Middle English (in the sense ‘aiming to preserve’): from late Latin conservativus, from conservat-‘conserved’, from the verb conservare (see conserve). Current senses date from the mid 19th centuryDefinitions
1. resistant to changeSynonyms
- blimpish
- buttoned-up
- fusty
- standpat(a)
- unprogressive
- nonprogressive
- hidebound
- traditionalist
- ultraconservative
Antonyms
Famous quotes
- « Our shared conservative values, our belief in the individual is the great hope of our nation. » Rick Perry
- « When a nation's young men are conservative, its funeral bell is already rung. » Henry Ward Beecher
- « I think one of the most threatening places to be in politics is a black conservative because there are so many liberals who want to continue to reinforce a stereotype that doesn't exist about America. » Tim Scott
- « These days too many of us seem inclined to cover our ears, close our eyes, and blindly follow the most narrow, conservative tenets of religion or else seek comfort in the ancient traditions of New Age ritual. » Joan D. Vinge
- « The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. » John Kenneth Galbraith