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A reactionary is someone who wants to return to a previous state - that's never a possibility in my books. For me, everything's irreversible in the life of a society, as well as an individual's.
Michel Houellebecq

Meaning of "reactionary" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF REACTIONARY

reactionary  [rɪˈækʃənərɪ] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF REACTIONARY

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Reactionary can act as a noun and an adjective.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

WHAT DOES REACTIONARY MEAN IN ENGLISH?

reactionary

Reactionary

A reactionary is a person who holds political viewpoints that favor a return to a previous state in a society. The word can also be an adjective describing such viewpoints or policies. Reactionaries are considered to be one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is radicalism, though reactionary ideologies may be themselves radical. While it has not been generally considered positive to be regarded as a reactionary it has been adopted as a self-description by some such as Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Gerald Warner of Craigenmaddie, Nicolás Gómez Dávila and John Lukacs.

Definition of reactionary in the English dictionary

The definition of reactionary in the dictionary is of, relating to, or characterized by reaction, esp against radical political or social change. Other definition of reactionary is a person opposed to radical change.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH REACTIONARY


auctionary
ˈɔːkʃənərɪ
cautionary
ˈkɔːʃənərɪ
confectionary
kənˈfɛkʃənərɪ
confectionery
kənˈfɛkʃənərɪ
contractionary
kənˈtrækʃənərɪ
dictionary
ˈdɪkʃənərɪ
discretionary
dɪˈskrɛʃənərɪ
evolutionary
ˌiːvəˈluːʃənərɪ
factionary
ˈfækʃənərɪ
fluxionary
ˈflʌkʃənərɪ
fractionary
ˈfrækʃənərɪ
functionary
ˈfʌŋkʃənərɪ
interjectionary
ˌɪntəˈdʒɛkʃənərɪ
lectionary
ˈlɛkʃənərɪ
missionary
ˈmɪʃənərɪ
precautionary
prɪˈkɔːʃənərɪ
resurrectionary
ˌrezəˈrekʃənərɪ
revolutionary
ˌrɛvəˈluːʃənərɪ
stationary
ˈsteɪʃənərɪ
stationery
ˈsteɪʃənərɪ

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE REACTIONARY

reaction
reaction chamber
reaction engine
reaction formation
reaction motor
reaction time
reaction turbine
reactional
reactionaries
reactionarism
reactionarist
reactionaryism
reactionism
reactionist
reactivate
reactivation
reactive
reactively
reactiveness
reactivity

WORDS THAT END LIKE REACTIONARY

accretionary
cardiopulmonary
coevolutionary
coronary
counter-revolutionary
data dictionary
deflationary
diversionary
exclusionary
expeditionary
geostationary
illusionary
inflationary
nonstationary
ordinary
post-Revolutionary
probationary
pulmonary
reversionary
revisionary
visionary

Synonyms and antonyms of reactionary in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «REACTIONARY»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «reactionary» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of reactionary

Translation of «reactionary» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF REACTIONARY

Find out the translation of reactionary to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of reactionary from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «reactionary» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

反动的
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

reaccionario
570 millions of speakers

English

reactionary
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

प्रतिक्रियावादी
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

رجعية
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

реакционная
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

reacionário
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

প্রতিক্রিয়াশীল
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

réactionnaire
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Reaksioner
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

reaktionär
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

反動的な
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

보수적인
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Reaksi
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

phản động
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

பிற்போக்கு
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

प्रतिक्रियावादी
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

gerici
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

reazionario
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

reakcyjne
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

реакційна
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

reacționar
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

αντιδραστική
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

reaksionêre
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

reaktionär
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

reaksjonær
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of reactionary

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «REACTIONARY»

The term «reactionary» is quite widely used and occupies the 50.518 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Quite widely used
77
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «reactionary» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of reactionary
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «reactionary».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «REACTIONARY» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «reactionary» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «reactionary» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about reactionary

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «REACTIONARY»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word reactionary.
1
Anthony Albanese
True conservatives fear anything that is at odds with the status quo, even to the extent of being unable to recognise when the status quo represents injustice. And reactionary conservatives actually want to tear down the gains of the past.
2
Warren Beatty
It's very clear you have to engage the public and say: You have to vote no on 74, no on 75, no on 76, no on 77. Those are the issues that Arnold pushing. And those are reactionary, Republican initiatives.
3
William F. Buckley, Jr.
All adventure is now reactionary.
4
Robert Conquest
Everyone is a reactionary about subjects he understands.
5
Bruce Davison
I think tolerance is something everybody needs to be reminded of, especially in a reactionary political world. Well, actually, I should say, a reactionary political climate.
6
Friedrich Ebert
Without democracy there is no freedom. Violence, no matter who is using it, is always reactionary.
7
Lion Feuchtwanger
An author who sets about to depict events of the past that have run their course is suspected of wishing to avoid the problems of the present day, of being, in other words, a reactionary.
8
Ariel Garten
Obsession with conventional ideas of 'success' can be harmful enough, but compound that stress with relationships, family, financial woes and health concerns, and you find yourself in a constant state of fight or flight. This causes people to be more reactionary, which further perpetuates the cycle of stress.
9
Alexander Haig
It didn't take long for the world to realize that the Shah was an enlightened liberal next to the bloody reactionary regime that followed, and which executed more people in three months than the Shah had done in 30 years.
10
Michel Houellebecq
A reactionary is someone who wants to return to a previous state - that's never a possibility in my books. For me, everything's irreversible in the life of a society, as well as an individual's.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «REACTIONARY»

Discover the use of reactionary in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to reactionary and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Reactionary Modernism: Technology, Culture, and Politics in ...
The book shows how German nationalism and later National Socialism created what Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, called the 'steel-like romanticism of the twentieth century'.
Herf, 1984
2
The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to ...
The book ranges widely, covering figures as various as Edmund Burke and Antonin Scalia, John C. Calhoun and Ayn Rand, Joseph de Maistre and Phyllis Schlafly.
Corey Robin, 2011
3
Modernist Writing and Reactionary Politics
Ferrall offers new insights into the relation between modernist aesthetics, technology and politics.
Charles Ferrall, 2001
4
Change They Can't Believe In: The Tea Party and Reactionary ...
Change They Can't Believe In offers an alternative argument--that the Tea Party is driven by the reemergence of a reactionary movement in American politics that is fueled by a fear that America has changed for the worse.
Christopher S. Parker, Matt A. Barreto, 2013
5
Freethinker in the Reactionary South: Rants of a Contrarian
In July, 1976, he passed the Tennessee Bar Examination. Mr. Hamlett enjoys duplicate bridge, Fantasy Football and extensive reading when not writing. He is married with two grown children. This is his second book.
Robert L. Hamlett, 2010
6
Schoenberg and His World
J. PETER BURKHOLDER I, in my reactionary way, stick to writing [my music] on orders from The Most High. — Arnold Schoenberg, "Italian National Music" (Style and Idea) Born in 1874 in Vienna, the very center of the classical tradition, ...
Walter Frisch, 1999
7
Look Homeward America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and ...
There is an America left that is worth saving: these are its paragons, its poets, its pantheon.
Bill Kauffman, 2006
8
American Neoconservatism: The Politics and Culture of a ...
American Neoconservatism moves beyond recent debates over the intricacies of the Bush administration's foreign policy to offer a deeper look at the philosophical premises of this 'new' conservatism in light of the historical events and ...
Jean-François Drolet, 2014
9
Dactionary
Words - shortest, longest, silliest, weirdest, history of, uninvented, real meanings and others you've never heard of - and unsubstantiated opinions fill this fascinating book.
Philip Bradbury, 2010
10
Colonialism and Cultural Identity: Crises of Tradition in ...
traditionalism" — or, sometimes, "reactionary nativism" or "reactionary racialism." Reactionary traditionalism is, first of all, a rigidifi- cation of indigenous tradition. However, it is a rigidification governed by European culture — not by indigenous  ...
Patrick Colm Hogan, 2000

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «REACTIONARY»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term reactionary is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Jeremy Corbyn's supporters 'reactionary' says Tony Blair
“[Labour] misunderstand the difference between radical leftism, which is often in fact quite reactionary – and radical social democracy, which is all about ... «The Independent, Jul 15»
2
The SNP has a reactionary, caveman ideology, Tony Blair says
The Scottish National Party has a “reactionary” ideology similar to that of a caveman, ... “It's blaming someone else: however you dress it up, it's a reactionary ... «The Independent, Jul 15»
3
Cameron Crowe's Reactionary Nostalgia
Bradley Cooper and Rachel McAdams in “Aloha,” Cameron Crowe's latest film. Credit PHOTOGRAPH BY COLUMBIA PICTURES / EVERETT. «The New Yorker, May 15»
4
Marco Rubio's Foreign Policy Full of Reckless, Reactionary Big-Gov …
Again, Rubio is a reactionary. Most American presidents believed that trade was not a matter for free enterprise but a government program designed for political ... «Reason, May 15»
5
White House puts kibosh on critique that Obama is 'reactionary' on …
But hasn't his reaction and his response to race mostly been reactionary as well? I mean, the task force was in response to Ferguson. Some of his most pointed ... «Politico, Apr 15»
6
Lawyer: reforming judge wrong to accuse "reactionary lawyers" of …
Lord Carloway - whose real name is Colin Sutherland - said: "Reactionary or excessively defensive forces among the legal profession can, and often do, behave ... «Herald Scotland, Apr 15»
7
“Radicals of a different sort”: How the reactionary right is plotting to …
But one thing has continued: the reactionary right's relentless quest to deny African-Americans the right to vote. In fact, after having calmed down a bit for a few ... «Salon, Mar 15»
8
Can reactionary GOP win in 2016?
This may prove his general election strategy is working, but it also shows his party may not let him get there because it's quite happy being “reactionary.”. «SFGate, Mar 15»
9
Flames' Treliving won't make reactionary trade: report
Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving said he won't force a trade after other Western Conference contenders made deals this week. "You're cognizant ... «NHL.com, Feb 15»
10
The Wachowskis' reactionary 'Jupiter Ascending'
This focus on revolution means that the Wachowskis' movies have often been interpreted and appropriated in ways that are either reactionary or outside of the ... «Washington Post, Feb 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Reactionary [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/reactionary>. Apr 2024 ».
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