you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 20 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

"Reactionary" means regressive conservative/anti-progressive. It originates from, as much political terminology on the regressive vs. progressive divide does (including the terms "left", "right", and "conservative" themselves), the French revolution, where people who favored opposing the revolution (i.e. reacting to the revolution) were called "réactionnaires" in French.

Here's the first known usage of the word in English, from a 1799 English translation of Lazare Carnot's letter on the Conspiracy of the 18th Fructador.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] -3 points 2 years ago

    Interesting, but I often see it used not for people who oppose any form of change, but for people who oppose a specific change. And it's intended to be more slanderous than conservative.

  • source
  • parent