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conservative
8 dictionary results for: conservative
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
con·serv·a·tive       [kuhn-sur-vuh-tiv] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
1.disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
2.cautiously moderate or purposefully low: a conservative estimate.
3.traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness: conservative suit.
4.(often initial capital letter) of or pertaining to the Conservative party.
5.(initial capital letter) of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Conservative Jews or Conservative Judaism.
6.having the power or tendency to conserve; preservative.
7.Mathematics. (of a vector or vector function) having curl equal to zero; irrotational; lamellar.
–noun
8.a person who is conservative in principles, actions, habits, etc.
9.a supporter of conservative political policies.
10.(initial capital letter) a member of a conservative political party, esp. the Conservative party in Great Britain.
11.a preservative.
[Origin: 1350–1400; < LL conservātīvus, equiv. to L conservāt(us) (see conservation) + -īvus -ive; r. ME conservatif < MF < L, as above]

—Related forms
con·serv·a·tive·ly, adverb
con·serv·a·tive·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
con·ser·va·tive       (kən-sûr'və-tĭv)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change.
  2. Traditional or restrained in style: a conservative dark suit.
  3. Moderate; cautious: a conservative estimate.
    1. Of or relating to the political philosophy of conservatism.
    2. Belonging to a conservative party, group, or movement.
  5. Conservative Of or belonging to the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom or the Progressive Conservative Party in Canada.
  6. Conservative Of or adhering to Conservative Judaism.
  7. Tending to conserve; preservative: the conservative use of natural resources.

n.  
  1. One favoring traditional views and values.
  2. A supporter of political conservatism.
  3. Conservative A member or supporter of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom or the Progressive Conservative Party in Canada.
  4. Archaic A preservative agent or principle.

con·ser'va·tive·ly adv., con·ser'va·tive·ness n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
conservative 
as a modern political tradition, conservatism traces to Edmund Burke's opposition to the Fr. Revolution (1790), but the word conservative is not found in his writing. It was coined by his Fr. disciples, (e.g. Chateaubriand, who titled his journal defending clerical and political restoration "Le Conservateur"). Conservative as the name of a British political faction it first appeared in an 1830 issue of the "Quarterly Review," in an unsigned article sometimes attributed to John Wilson Croker. It replaced Tory (q.v.) by 1843, reflecting both a change from the pejorative name (in use for 150 years) and repudiation of some reactionary policies. Extended to similar spirits in other parties from 1845.
"Strictly speaking, conservatism is not a political system, but rather a way of looking at the civil order. The conservative of Peru ... will differ greatly from those of Australia, for though they may share a preference for things established, the institutions and customs which they desire to preserve are not identical." [Russell Kirk (1918-1994)]

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
conservative

adjective
1. resistant to change [ant: liberal] 
2. having social or political views favoring conservatism 
3. avoiding excess; "a conservative estimate" [syn: cautious] 
4. unimaginatively conventional; "a colorful character in the buttoned-down, dull-grey world of business"- Newsweek [syn: button-down] 
5. conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class; "a bourgeois mentality" [syn: bourgeois] 

noun
1. a person who is reluctant to accept changes and new ideas [ant: liberal] 
2. a member of a Conservative Party 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
conservative

A descriptive term for persons, policies, and beliefs associated with conservatism.


The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

conservative con·ser·va·tive (kən-sûr'və-tĭv)
adj.
Of or relating to treatment by gradual, limited, or well-established procedures; not radical.

con·ser'va·tive·ly adv.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Conservative

Con*serv"a*tive\, a. [Cf. F. conservatif.]

1. Having power to preserve in a safe of entire state, or from loss, waste, or injury; preservative.

2. Tending or disposed to maintain existing institutions; opposed to change or innovation.

3. Of or pertaining to a political party which favors the conservation of existing institutions and forms of government, as the Conservative party in England; -- contradistinguished from Liberal and Radical.

We have always been conscientiously attached to what is called the Tory, and which might with more propriety be called the Conservative, party. --Quart. Rev. (1830).

Conservative system (Mech.), a material system of such a nature that after the system has undergone any series of changes, and been brought back in any manner to its original state, the whole work done by external agents on the system is equal to the whole work done by the system overcoming external forces. --Clerk Maxwell.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Conservative

Con*serv"a*tive\, n. 1. One who, or that which, preserves from ruin, injury, innovation, or radical change; a preserver; a conserver.

The Holy Spirit is the great conservative of the new life. --Jer. Taylor.

2. One who desires to maintain existing institutions and customs; also, one who holds moderate opinions in politics; -- opposed to revolutionary or radical.

3. (Eng. Hist.) A member of the Conservative party.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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