conservative
/kənˈsɝvətɪv/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.61 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person who favors maintenance of the status quo.
noun
One who seeks to promote or preserve traditional values or institutions.
noun
One who seeks to promote traditions in a particular domain (e.g. a fiscal conservative or a social conservative).
Canadian usage; American usage
adj
Tending to resist change or innovation.
adj
adj
Supporting some combination of fiscal, political or social conservatism.
Canadian usage; American usage
Example Sentences
- "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),[…]"
- "If there’s a down side to the film, it’s that “Soros” probably doesn’t devote enough time to the way its subject has become a favorite bogeyman to conservatives that paint him as the guiding hand behind grassroots campaigns by those intent on discrediting them."
- "The chef added a conservative amount of salt to the dish."
- "The curriculum committee at this university is extremely conservative."
- "India is a conservative land. The gods do not change."
- "Those who defend him [Hegel] against the charge of conservative bias point out with truth that he believes in a tribunal of Reason to distinguish between what is truly real and what appears real but is no longer 'essential', maintaining a purely empirical existence and destined soon to be swept away."
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French conservatif, from Latin cōnservō (“to preserve”). Equivalent to conserve + -ative.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: cōnservō
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kənˈsɝvətɪv/
- British English: /kənˈsɜːvətɪv/