reactionary

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

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹiˈækʃən(ə)ɹi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹiˈæk.ʃəˌnɛɚ.i/, /ɹiˈæk.t͡ʃəˌnɛɚ.i/, /ɹiˈæk.ʃɪˌnɛɚ.i/, /ɹiˈæk.t͡ʃɪˌnɛɚ.i/
• Hyphenation: re‧ac‧tion‧ary

reactionary (comparative more reactionary, superlative most reactionary)

1. (politics) Extremely conservative; 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:

     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?‎:

     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.

• neo-reactionary
• reactionaryism

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:

     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 ‎:

     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.

• antiprogressive

• progressive

• neo-reactionary

• "reactionary" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 256.
• “reactionary”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “reactionary”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• reactionary on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• creationary