reactionary

comparative more reactionary · superlative most reactionary

1. governmentExtremely conservative; opposing revolution (such as the French Revolution); favoring a return to a "golden age" of the past.

   [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.

   2019 August 7, Marissa Brostoff, Noah Kulwin, “The Right Kind of Continuity”, in Jewish Currents, archived from the original on 14 Jan 2025

   2 more examples

   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.

   2011 September 29, Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →OL, page 25

   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.

   2025 November 4, Michelle Goldberg, “Nick Fuentes Is Becoming Charlie Kirk’s Successor”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2025

   Synonyms: antiprogressive, regressive · Antonyms: progressive, nonreactionary

2. chemistryOf, pertaining to, participating in, or inducing a chemical reaction.

   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.

   2013 April 11, Brandon Smith, “Are Individuals The Property Of The Collective?”, in Alt-Market, archived from the original on 05 Mar 2016

3. In reaction to; as a result of.

   The regulator noted that reduced service levels and passenger numbers helped deliver strong performance, with fewer reactionary delays.

   2020 December 16, “Network News: ORR praises Network Rail's response to pandemic”, in Rail, page 13

plural reactionaries

1. governmentOne who opposes revolution, wanting to reverse it, favoring a return to a past golden age, often used derogatorily by revolutionaires.

   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.

   1921, Valentine Chirol, India, Old and New

   2 more examples

   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.

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

   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.

   2017 April, Andrew Sullivan, “The Reactionary Temptation”, in New York Magazine, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2020

   Synonyms: antiprogressive