adjective / noun

reactionary

ree-AK-shuh-nair-ee/riˈækʃəneri/

Favoring a return to earlier political or social conditions.

The party’s reactionary wing wanted to restore the old hierarchy.

Etymology

reLatinback, again

+actLatinto do, perform

+ionLatinaction or process

+aryEnglishrelating to

The pieces suggest acting back against another action. In politics, this became resistance aimed at checking or undoing change, giving reactionary its sense of strong opposition to political or social reform.

In context

Property and Freedom Society13:42

I think the more important forces in government tended to be reactionary. That means they wanted to avoid increasing schooling

PFP227 | Rahim Taghizadegan - Schooling as State-Making (PFS 2021)

More examples

He criticized the proposal as reactionary.
The historian studied a reactionary movement against reform.
A reactionary defended the return of earlier social restrictions.

Forms

reactionary · reactionaries · more reactionary · most reactionary

Similar words

conservative: Conservative generally favors preserving existing arrangements; reactionary seeks a return to earlier ones.
regressive: Regressive describes movement backward; reactionary particularly identifies a political or social stance.