Meanings
nounconservatism (countable and uncountable, plural conservatisms)
plural conservatisms
- countableuncountableA political philosophy that advocates traditional values.
Oddly, with the liberals and radicals in power in NSW, the conservatives realized that a nominated upper house was no longer a bastion of conservatism and some began to call for an elected legislative council.
2009, Jack P. Greene, Exclusionary Empire: English Liberty Overseas, 1600-1900, page 240 - countableuncountableA risk-averse attitude or approach.
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
nouna political or theological orientation advocating the preservation of the best in society and opposing radical changes
Similar
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincōnservāre“to conserve; to keep, guard, observe”
- Englishconservatism
Either irregularly from conservative + -ism or from conservate + -ism; ultimately from Latin cōnservāre (“to conserve; to keep, guard, observe”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سِيَاسَة مُحَافِظَة, فِكْر مُحَافِظ
- سِيَاسَة مُحَافِظَة (siyāsa muḥāfiẓa)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- فِكْر مُحَافِظ (fikr muḥāfiẓ)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Bengali রক্ষণশীলতাবাদ
- রক্ষণশীলতাবাদ (rokkhonośiltabad)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Bulgarian консервати́зъм
- консервати́зъм (konservatízăm)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Catalan conservadorisme
- conservadorismepolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Chinese Mandarin 保守主義 /保守主义
- 保守主義 /保守主义 (bǎoshǒuzhǔyì)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Czech konzervatismus
- konzervatismuspolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Danish konservatisme
- konservatismepolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Dutch conservatisme
- conservatismepolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Estonian konservatism, konservatiivsus
- konservatismpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- konservatiivsuspolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Finnish konservatiivisuus, konservatismi
- konservatiivisuuspolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- konservatismipolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- varovaisuuspolitical philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
French conservatisme
- conservatismepolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
German Konservatismus, Konservativismus
- Konservatismuspolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- Konservativismuspolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- Konservatismuspolitical philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Greek συντηρητισμός
- συντηρητισμός (syntiritismós)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Hindi रूढ़िवाद
- रूढ़िवाद (rūṛhivād)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Hungarian konzervativizmus, konzervativizmus
- konzervativizmuspolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- konzervativizmuspolitical philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Icelandic íhald, íhaldsstefna
- íhaldpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- íhaldsstefnapolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Irish coimeádachas, coimeádachas
- coimeádachaspolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- coimeádachaspolitical philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Italian conservatorismo
- conservatorismopolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Japanese 保守主義
- 保守主義 (hoshushugi)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Korean 보수주의
- 보수주의 (bosujuui)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Latvian konservatīvisms
- konservatīvismspolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Lithuanian konservatizmas
- konservatizmaspolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Malay konservatisme, faham konservatif
- konservatismepolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- faham konservatifpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Norwegian Bokmål konservatisme
- konservatismepolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Persian محافظهکاری
- محافظهکاری (mohâfeze-kâri)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Polish konserwatyzm, konserwatyzm
- konserwatyzmpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- konserwatyzmpolitical philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Portuguese conservadorismo, conservadorismo
- conservadorismopolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- conservadorismopolitical philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Romanian conservatorism, conservatism
- conservatorismpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- conservatismpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Russian консервати́зм
- консервати́зм (konservatízm)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Slovak konzervativizmus
- konzervativizmuspolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Spanish conservadurismo, conservatismo
- conservadurismopolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- conservatismopolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- conservadorismopolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Swedish konservatism, konservatism
- konservatismpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
- konservatismpolitical philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Tagalog panininggal
- panininggalpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Tamil பழைமைவாதம்
- பழைமைவாதம் (paḻaimaivātam)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Thai อนุรักษนิยม
- อนุรักษนิยม (à-nú-rák-sà-ní-yom)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Turkish muhafazakârlık
- muhafazakârlıkpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Ukrainian консервати́зм
- консервати́зм (konservatýzm)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Vietnamese chủ nghĩa bảo thủ
- chủ nghĩa bảo thủpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Welsh ceidwadaeth
- ceidwadaethpolitical philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Yiddish קאָנסערוואַטיזם
- קאָנסערוואַטיזם (konservatizm)political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Cite this entry
APA
conservatism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/conservatism
MLA
“conservatism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/conservatism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “conservatism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/conservatism.
Source: conservatism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.