conservative
Americanadjective
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disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
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cautiously moderate or purposefully low.
a conservative estimate.
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traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness.
conservative suit.
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(often initial capital letter) of or relating to the Conservative party.
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(initial capital letter) of, relating to, or characteristic of Conservative Jews or Conservative Judaism.
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having the power or tendency to conserve or preserve.
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Mathematics. (of a vector or vector function) having curl equal to zero; irrotational; lamellar.
noun
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a person who is conservative in principles, actions, habits, etc.
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a supporter of conservative political policies.
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(initial capital letter) a member of a conservative political party, especially the Conservative party in Great Britain.
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a preservative.
adjective
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favouring the preservation of established customs, values, etc, and opposing innovation
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of, characteristic of, or relating to conservatism
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tending to be moderate or cautious
a conservative estimate
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conventional in style or type
a conservative suit
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med (of treatment) designed to alleviate symptoms Compare radical
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physics a field of force, system, etc, in which the work done moving a body from one point to another is independent of the path taken between them
electrostatic fields of force are conservative
noun
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a person who is reluctant to change or consider new ideas; conformist
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a supporter or advocate of conservatism
adjective
adjective
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of, supporting, or relating to a Conservative Party
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of, relating to, or characterizing Conservative Judaism
noun
Other Word Forms
- anticonservative adjective
- anticonservatively adverb
- anticonservativeness noun
- conservatively adverb
- conservativeness noun
- half-conservative adjective
- half-conservatively adverb
- hyperconservative adjective
- hyperconservatively adverb
- hyperconservativeness noun
- nonconservative adjective
- overconservative adjective
- overconservatively adverb
- overconservativeness noun
- pseudoconservative adjective
- pseudoconservatively adverb
- quasi-conservative adjective
- quasi-conservatively adverb
- semiconservative adjective
- semiconservatively adverb
- superconservative adjective
- superconservatively adverb
- superconservativeness noun
- unconservative adjective
- unconservatively adverb
- unconservativeness noun
Etymology
Origin of conservative
First recorded in 1350–1400; from Late Latin conservātīvus, equivalent to Latin conservāt(us) ( conservation ) + -īvus -ive; replacing Middle English conservatif, from Middle French, from Latin, as above
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In light of recent positive earnings surprises, he now thinks this forecast is looking conservative.
From MarketWatch
Flavio Bolsonaro, son of Brazil's jailed former leader, on Sunday sought to rally and unite conservatives ahead of October elections in which he hopes to follow in his father's footsteps.
From Barron's
A conservative politician, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has close connections to the police and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which oversees Iran’s missile program.
At times, the supreme leader has presented himself as almost above politics - looking down on the squabbling between Iran's reformists and conservatives.
From BBC
The airline gives conservative guidance that factors in the impact of major disruptive events before they happen.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
