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conservative. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
conservative, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Etymology
From Middle French conservatif, from Latin cōnservō (“to preserve”). Equivalent to conserve + -ative.
Pronunciation
Noun
conservative (plural conservatives)
- A person who favors maintenance of the status quo.
- Coordinate terms: moderate, liberal, progressive, libertarian, centrist, fascist, communist, socialist
1999, Nicholas Walker, “The Reorientation of Critical Theory: Habermas”, in Simon Glemdinning, editor, The Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy, Routledge, →ISBN, page 489: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), […]
- (politics) One who opposes changes to the traditional institutions of their country.
- (US, politics) A person who favors decentralization of political power and disfavors interventionist foreign policy.
- (US, economics) A fiscal conservative.
- (US, social sciences) A social conservative.
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
one who favors the status quo
UK: member of the Conservative party
Adjective
conservative (comparative more conservative, superlative most conservative)
- Cautious, moderate.
The chef added a conservative amount of salt to the dish.
- Tending to resist change or innovation.
The curriculum committee at this university is extremely conservative.
- Based on pessimistic assumptions.
At a conservative estimate, growth may even be negative next year.
- (US, economics, politics, social sciences) Supporting some combination of fiscal, political or social conservatism.
- (British, politics) Relating to the Conservative Party.
1830, Quarterly Rev.:We have always been conscientiously attached to what is called the Tory, and which might with more propriety be called the Conservative, party.
- (physics, not comparable) Neither creating nor destroying a given quantity.
- Having power to preserve in a safe or entire state, or from loss, waste, or injury; preservative.
- (Judaism) Relating to Conservative Judaism.
- (clothing) Conventional, traditional, and moderate in style and appearance; not extreme, excessive, faddish, or intense.
- (medicine) Not including any operation or intervention (said of a treatment, see conservative treatment)
2000, G. Puddu et al., “Achilles Tendon Injuries”, in The Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine, →ISBN, page 200:Operative treatment should be reserved for those patients in whom conservative treatment has failed and who are motivated with regard to sports.
Quotations
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
based on pessimistic assumptions
supporting fiscal, political or social conservatism
US: relating to the Republican party
UK: relating to the Conservative party
physics: neither creating nor destroying a given quantity
See also
References
- “conservative”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- conservative in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- “conservative”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Adjective
conservative
- feminine singular of conservatif
Interlingua
Adjective
conservative (comparative plus conservative, superlative le plus conservative)
- conservative
Italian
Adjective
conservative
- feminine plural of conservativo
Anagrams
Latin
Pronunciation
Adjective
cōnservātīve
- vocative masculine singular of cōnservātīvus
References