conservative

See also: Conservative

English

Etymology

From Middle French conservatif, from Latin cōnservō (“to preserve”). Equivalent to conserve +‎ -ative.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈsɝvətɪv/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈsɜːvətɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧ser‧va‧tive

Noun

conservative (plural conservatives)

1. A person who favors maintenance of the status quo.

   Coordinate terms: moderate, liberal, progressive, libertarian, centrist, fascist, communist, socialist

   • 1999, Nicholas Walker, “The Reorientation of Critical Theory: Habermas”, in Simon Glemdinning, editor, The Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy‎^[1], Routledge, →ISBN, page 489:

     During the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, this commitment brought him into frequent critical confrontation with entrenched forms of conservative thinking (in academic areas from history and social science to the more abstract domains of ethical and political philosophy), […]

   1. (politics) One who opposes changes to the traditional institutions of their country.
   2. (US, Canada, politics) A person who favors decentralization of political power and disfavors interventionist foreign policy.
   3. (US, Canada, economics) A fiscal conservative.
   4. (US, Canada, social sciences) A social conservative.

Hypernyms

• traditionalist

Hyponyms

• reactionary, small-c conservative

Derived terms

• liberal conservative
• national conservative
• neoconservative
• one-nation conservative
• ultraconservative

 

Translations

one who favors the status quo

• Arabic: مُحَافِظ m (muḥāfiẓ)
• Armenian: պահպանողական (hy) (pahpanoġakan)
• Azerbaijani: mühafizəkar
• Belarusian: кансерва́тар m (kansjervátar), кансэрва́тар m (kanservátar)
• Bulgarian: консерватор (bg) m (konservator)
• Czech: konzervativec m
• Danish: konservativ (da)
• Dutch: conservatief (nl) m
• Finnish: vanhoillinen (fi), konservatiivi (fi)
• Galician: conservador (gl) m
• Georgian: კონსერვატორი (ḳonservaṭori), რეაქციონერი (reakcioneri)
• German: Konservativer (de) m
• Greek: συντηρητικός (el) m (syntiritikós)
• Hebrew: שמרן m (shamran), שמרנית f (shamranyt)
• Icelandic: íhaldssinni
• Indonesian: konservatif (id)
• Ingrian: vanhameeliin
• Irish: coimeádach m
• Italian: conservatore (it) m
• Japanese: 保守派 (ja) (ほしゅは, hoshuha)
• Korean: 보수주의자(保守主義者) (bosujuuija), 보수파(保守派) (ko) (bosupa)
• Manx: cumaadagh m
• Norman: consèrvateu m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: konservativ (no) m

• Polish: konserwatysta (pl) m
• Portuguese: conservador (pt) m
• Romanian: conservator (ro) m, conservatoare (ro) f
• Russian: консерва́тор (ru) m (konservátor)
• Turkish: muhafazakâr (tr)
• Ukrainian: консерва́тор m (konservátor)
• Yiddish: ^{(please verify)} קאָסערוואַטאָר m (koservator), ^{(please verify)} קאָנסערוואַטאָר m (konservator)

UK: member of the Conservative party

• Armenian: պահպանողական (hy) (pahpanoġakan)
• Bulgarian: консерватор (bg) m (konservator)
• Czech: konzervativec m, konzervativka f
• Dutch: conservatief (nl)
• Finnish: konservatiivi (fi)
• French: conservateur (fr) m, conservatrice (fr) f
• Georgian: კონსერვატორი (ḳonservaṭori)
• German: Konservativer (de) m, Konservative (de) f
• Greek: συντηρητικός (el) m (syntiritikós)
• Italian: conservatore (it) m, conservatrice (it) f
• Manx: cumaadagh m
• Norman: consèrvateu m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: konservativ (no) m

• Polish: konserwatysta (pl) m, konserwatystka (pl) f
• Portuguese: conservador (pt) m, conservadora (pt) f
• Romanian: conservator (ro) m, conservatoare (ro) f
• Russian: консерва́тор (ru) m (konservátor), то́ри (ru) m or f (tóri)
• Spanish: conservador (es) m, conservadora (es) f
• Swedish: konservativ (sv) c (chiefly used in the plural)

fiscal conservative

• Armenian: պահպանողական (hy) (pahpanoġakan)
• Finnish: vanhoillinen (fi), konservatiivi (fi)
• Georgian: კონსერვატორი (ḳonservaṭori)
• Greek: συντηρητικός (el) m (syntiritikós)
• Korean: 재정적 보수주의자(財政的保守主義者) (jaejeongjeok bosujuuija)
• Manx: cumaadagh m
• Polish: konserwatywny (pl)
• Russian: консерва́тор (ru) m (konservátor)
• Yiddish: ^{(please verify)} קאָסערוואַטאָר m (koservator), ^{(please verify)} קאָנסערוואַטאָר m (konservator)

political conservative

• Armenian: պահպանողական (hy) (pahpanoġakan)
• Azerbaijani: mühafizəkar
• Belarusian: кансерва́тар m (kansjervátar)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 保守派 (zh) (bǎoshǒupài)

• Finnish: vanhoillinen (fi), konservatiivi (fi)
• French: conservateur (fr) m, conservatrice (fr) f
• Georgian: კონსერვატორი (ḳonservaṭori)
• German: Konservativer (de) m
• Greek: συντηρητικός (el) m (syntiritikós)
• Hebrew: שמרן m (shamran), שמרנית f (shamranyt)
• Hungarian: konzervatív (hu)
• Irish: coimeádach m, coimeádaí f
• Italian: conservatore (it) m, conservatrice (it) f
• Japanese: 保守派 (ja) (ほしゅは, hoshuha)
• Korean: 보수주의자(保守主義者) (bosujuuija), 보수파(保守派) (ko) (bosupa)
• Malay: konservatif
• Manx: cumaadagh m
• Polish: konserwatywny (pl)
• Portuguese: conservador (pt) m
• Romanian: conservator (ro) m, conservatoare (ro) f
• Russian: консерва́тор (ru) m (konservátor)
• Spanish: conservador (es) m
• Swedish: konservativ (sv) c (chiefly used in the plural)
• Ukrainian: консерва́тор m (konservátor)
• Yiddish: ^{(please verify)} קאָסערוואַטאָר m (koservator), ^{(please verify)} קאָנסערוואַטאָר m (konservator)

social conservative

• Armenian: պահպանողական (hy) (pahpanoġakan)
• Azerbaijani: mühafizəkar
• Finnish: vanhoillinen (fi), konservatiivi (fi)
• Georgian: კონსერვატორი (ḳonservaṭori)
• Greek: συντηρητικός (el) m (syntiritikós)
• Hebrew: שמרן m (shamran), שמרנית f (shamranyt)
• Korean: 사회적 보수주의자(社會的保守主義者) (sahoejeok bosujuuija)
• Manx: cumaadagh m
• Russian: консерва́тор (ru) m (konservátor)
• Yiddish: ^{(please verify)} קאָסערוואַטאָר m (koservator), ^{(please verify)} קאָנסערוואַטאָר m (konservator)

Canadian conservative

• Finnish: konservatiivi (fi)
• French: conservateur (fr)
• Manx: cumaadagh m
• Russian: консерва́тор (ru) m (konservátor)

Adjective

conservative (comparative more conservative, superlative most conservative)

1. Cautious, moderate.

   The chef added a conservative amount of salt to the dish.

2. Tending to resist change or innovation.

   The curriculum committee at this university is extremely conservative.

3. Based on pessimistic assumptions, and on the low side.

   At a conservative estimate, growth may even be negative next year.

4. (US, Canada, economics, politics, social sciences) Supporting some combination of fiscal, political or social conservatism.
5. (British, politics) Relating to the Conservative Party.
   • 1830, Quarterly Rev.:

     We have always been conscientiously attached to what is called the Tory, and which might with more propriety be called the Conservative, party.

6. (physics, not comparable) Neither creating nor destroying a given quantity.
7. Having power to preserve in a safe or entire state, or from loss, waste, or injury; preservative.
8. (Judaism) Relating to Conservative Judaism.
9. (clothing) Conventional, traditional, and moderate in style and appearance; not extreme, excessive, faddish, or intense.
10. (medicine) Not including any operation or intervention (said of a treatment, see conservative treatment)
    • 2000, G. Puddu et al., “Achilles Tendon Injuries”, in The Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine, →ISBN, page 200:

      Operative treatment should be reserved for those patients in whom conservative treatment has failed and who are motivated with regard to sports.

11. (linguistics) Having few changes relative to an older form, especially in comparison to related varieties.

    While innovative in its verbal system, Sardinian is the most conservative Romance language in its vocabulary and phonology.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:conservative.

Derived terms

• anticonservative
• archconservative
• biconservative
• bioconservative
• conservaloon
• conservaphobia
• conservatard
• conservatarian
• conservatise
• Conservative
• conservative correctness
• conservative extension
• conservative force
• conservative-libertarianism
• conservatively
• conservative model
• conservativeness
• conservativism
• conservativitis
• conservatize
• conservaturd
• cuckservative
• cuntservative
• fiscal conservative
• homocon
• hyperconservative
• liberal conservative
• national conservative
• nonconservative
• overconservative
• paleoconservative
• political conservative
• pseudoconservative
• semiconservative
• small-c conservative
• social conservative
• superconservative
• technoconservative
• theoconservative
• ultraconservative
• unconservative

 

Related terms

• conservationist
• conservatism
• conservator
• conserve

 

Translations

cautious — see cautious

tending to resist change

• Arabic: مُحَافِظ (muḥāfiẓ)
• Armenian: պահպանողական (hy) (pahpanoġakan)
• Azerbaijani: mühafizəkar
• Belarusian: кансерваты́ўны (kansjervatýŭny), кансэрваты́ўны (kanservatýŭny)
• Bulgarian: консервативен (bg) (konservativen)
• Catalan: conservador (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 保守的 (bǎoshǒu de)

• Czech: konzervativní (cs)
• Danish: konservativ (da)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} konservativa
• Finnish: vanhoillinen (fi), konservatiivinen (fi)
• French: conservateur (fr)
• Galician: conservador (gl)
• German: konservativ (de)
• Greek: συντηρητικός (el) (syntiritikós)
• Hebrew: שמרני (shamrany)
• Indonesian: konservatif (id)
• Irish: coimeádach
• Italian: conservatore (it)
• Japanese: 保守的な (ja) (ほしゅてきな, hoshuteki na)
• Kazakh: сақтанымпаз (saqtanympaz)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 보수적(保守的)인 (bosujeog-in)
• Malay: please add this translation if you can
• Manx: freilltagh
• Maori: arowheau
• Persian: محافظه‌کار (mohâfeze-kâr)
• Polish: konserwatywny (pl), zachowawczy (pl)
• Portuguese: conservador (pt)
• Romanian: conservator (ro)
• Russian: консервати́вный (ru) (konservatívnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ко̏нзерватӣван

  Roman: kȍnzervatīvan (sh)

• Slovak: konzervatívny
• Swedish: bakåtsträvande, gammaldags (sv), konservativ (sv)
• Thai: หัวโบราณ (th) (hǔua-boo-raan)
• Ukrainian: консервати́вний (konservatývnyj)
• Vietnamese: bảo thủ (vi)

based on pessimistic assumptions

• Bulgarian: умерен (bg) (umeren), внимателен (bg) (vnimatelen)
• Finnish: varovainen (fi), konservatiivinen (fi)
• French: prudent (fr)
• Greek: επιφυλακτικός (el) (epifylaktikós), μετριοπαθής (el) (metriopathís)
• Italian: prudente (it)
• Korean: 비관적(悲觀的)인 (bigwanjeog-in)
• Portuguese: conservador (pt), prudente (pt)
• Romanian: conservator (ro), precaut (ro), prudent (ro)
• Russian: уме́ренный (ru) (umérennyj)
• Spanish: conservador (es)

supporting fiscal, political or social conservatism

• Arabic: مُحَافِظ (muḥāfiẓ)
• Armenian: պահպանողական (hy) (pahpanoġakan)
• Azerbaijani: mühafizəkar
• Belarusian: кансерваты́ўны (kansjervatýŭny)
• Bulgarian: консервативен (bg) (konservativen)
• Catalan: conservador (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 守舊 / 守旧 (zh) (shǒujiù), 保守 (zh) (bǎoshǒu)

• Esperanto: konservativa
• Finnish: vanhoillinen (fi), konservatiivinen (fi)
• French: conservateur (fr)
• German: konservativ (de)
• Greek: συντηρητικός (el) (syntiritikós)
• Indonesian: konservatif (id)
• Japanese: 保守的 (ja) (ほしゅてき, hoshuteki), コンサーバティブ (konsābatibu)
• Korean: 보수적(保守的)인 (bosujeog-in)
• Manx: cumaadagh
• Persian: محافظه‌کار (mohâfeze-kâr)
• Polish: konserwatywny (pl)
• Portuguese: conservador (pt)
• Romanian: conservator (ro)
• Russian: консервати́вный (ru) (konservatívnyj)
• Spanish: conservador (es)
• Swedish: konservativ (sv)
• Ukrainian: консервати́вний (konservatývnyj)
• Vietnamese: bảo thủ chủ nghĩa
• Yiddish: קאָנסערוואַטיוו (konservativ)

US: relating to the Republican party

• Catalan: republicà (ca)
• Finnish: republikaaninen (fi)
• Greek: ρεπουμπλικανός (el) (repoumplikanós)
• Korean: 공화당(共和黨)의 (gonghwadang-ui)
• Portuguese: republicano (pt)
• Romanian: republican (ro)
• Russian: республика́нский (ru) (respublikánskij)
• Swedish: republikansk (sv)

UK: relating to the Conservative party

• Catalan: conservador (ca)
• Finnish: konservatiivinen (fi)
• Greek: συντηρητικός (el) (syntiritikós)
• Korean: 보수당(保守黨)의 (bosudang-ui)
• Manx: cumaadagh
• Romanian: conservator (ro)
• Russian: консервати́вный (ru) (konservatívnyj)

physics: neither creating nor destroying a given quantity

linguistics: having few changes relative to an older form

• Finnish: konservatiivinen (fi)
• French: conservateur (fr), archaïque (fr)
• Polish: konserwatywny (pl)

See also

• conservative on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Labour Party
• liberal
• Republican party
• Tory

 

References

• “conservative”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• conservative in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “conservative”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• conversative

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.sɛʁ.va.tiv/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: conservatives

Adjective

conservative

1. feminine singular of conservatif

Interlingua

Adjective

conservative (comparative plus conservative, superlative le plus conservative)

1. conservative

Italian

Adjective

conservative

1. feminine plural of conservativo

Anagrams

• conservatevi

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /kon.ser.u̯aːˈtiː.u̯e/, [kõːs̠ɛru̯äːˈt̪iːu̯ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kon.ser.vaˈti.ve/, [konserväˈt̪iːve]

Adjective

cōnservātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of cōnservātīvus

References

• conservative in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)