reactionary

reactionary

English

Etymology

From French réactionnaire.[1] Used in the time of the French revolution to refer to a person opposing the revolution; as in a person favoring a reaction to the revolution. First known usage in English in a translation of Lazare Carnot's letter on the Conspiracy of the 18th Fructidor published in London, 1799.

Pronunciation

• (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

Adjective

reactionary (comparative more reactionary, superlative most reactionary)

1. (politics) Favoring a return to an alleged, mythical golden age of the past; anti-progressive.
   • 2011 September 29, Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, OL 25101368M, 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 and Noah Kulwin, “The Right Kind of Continuity”, in Jewish Currents‎:

     [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.

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. [2]
   • 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.

Synonyms

(politics):

• regressive

Antonyms

(politics):

• nonreactionary
• progressive

Translations

opposed to change

Azerbaijani: mürtəce Bulgarian: реакционен (bg) (reakcionen) Catalan: reaccionari Chinese: Mandarin: 反動的／反动的 (fǎndòng de) Dutch: reactionair (nl) Finnish: taantumuksellinen (fi) French: réactionnaire (fr) Georgian: რეაქციული (reakciuli) German: reaktionär (de) Greek: αντιδραστικός (el) m (antidrastikós), αντιπροοδευτικός (el) m (antiproodeftikós) Hungarian: reakciós (hu) Icelandic: afturhaldssamur m Italian: codino (it) m, codina (it) f Japanese: 反動的 (ja) (はんどうてき, handōteki) Khmer: ប្រតិកិរិយា (prɑɑtekeriyiə) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: paşverû (ku) Lao: ປະຕິການ (pa ti kān), ປະຕິກິລິຍາ (pa ti ki li nyā) Norwegian: reaksjonær Pashto: ارتجاعي‎ (ps) Persian: ارتجاعی‎ (fa) Polish: reakcyjny (pl), reakcjonistyczny Portuguese: reacionário (pt) Russian: реакцио́нный (ru) (reakciónnyj) Samoan: i suiga Sicilian: cudìnu m Spanish: reaccionario Swedish: reaktionär (sv) Ukrainian: реакці́йний (reakcíjnyj) Vietnamese: phản động (vi)

Noun

reactionary (plural reactionaries)

1. (politics) One who is opposed to progress and change and wants to reverse it, wishing for a return to an alleged, mythical golden age of the past.

Synonyms

• antiprogressive

Antonyms

• progressive

Translations

such a person

Azerbaijani: irticaçı Bulgarian: реакционер (bg) m (reakcioner) Catalan: reaccionari Chinese: Mandarin: 反动派 (zh) (fǎndòngpài) Japanese: 反動家 (はんどうか, handōka) Esperanto: reakciulo Finnish: reaktionääri, taantumuksellinen (fi) French: réactionnaire (fr) m or f Georgian: რეაქციონერი (reakcioneri) German: Reaktionär (de) m, Reaktionärin (de) f Greek: αντιδραστικός (el) m (antidrastikós) Icelandic: afturhaldsseggur m Italian: codino (it) m, codina (it) f, reazionario (it) Kazakh: кертартпа (kertartpa) Norwegian: reaksjonær m Polish: reakcjonista (pl) Portuguese: reacionário (pt) m Russian: реакционе́р (ru) m (reakcionér), реакционе́рка (ru) f (reakcionérka) Sicilian: cudìnu m Spanish: reaccionario m Swedish: reaktionär (sv) c, bakåtsträvare (sv) c Vietnamese: người phản động

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “reactionary”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
2. Eurocontrol ATM Lexicon

Further reading

• "reactionary" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 256.
• reactionary on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• creationary