reactionary

Borrowed from French réactionnaire, equivalent to reaction +‎ -ary.^[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.

• (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^[2], archived from the original on 14 January 2025:

     [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.

   • 2025 November 4, Michelle Goldberg, “Nick Fuentes Is Becoming Charlie Kirk’s Successor”, in The New York Times‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 4 November 2025:

     Within certain MAGA circles, to criticize someone for being too racist or reactionary is a betrayal, signaling an acceptance of the very liberal morality that the movement’s vanguard seeks to destroy.

2. (chemistry) Of, pertaining to, participating in, or inducing a chemical reaction.
   • 2013 April 11, Brandon Smith, “Are Individuals The Property Of The Collective?”, in Alt-Market‎^[4], archived from the original on 5 March 2016:

     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.

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^[5]:

     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.

   • 1945 September, Charles W. Morton, “Tom Paine: America's God Father”, in The Atlantic‎^[6], →ISSN, archived from the original on 28 May 2022:

     He was not a drunkard, not a chronic bankrupt. For the rest, Mr. Woodward depicts [Thomas] Paine as a highminded controversialist, persecuted by reactionaries on both sides of the Atlantic for no more than liberal political views.

   • 2017 April, Andrew Sullivan, “The Reactionary Temptation”, in New York Magazine‎^[7], archived from the original on 15 April 2020:

     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

• Raymond Williams (1983), “Reactionary”, in Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, revised American edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, published 1985, →ISBN, 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