reactionary

Etymology

It is formed from English reaction + -ary,^[2][3][4][5] apparently at first after French réactionnaire, which the OED finds as a noun by 1799 and as an adjective by 1794.^[2] Merriam-Webster takes the English word directly from the French one, formed from réaction and -aire.^[6] The French noun goes back to Medieval Latin reactio,^[3][7] a noun of action formed in Late Latin from the past participle stem of reagō (“to react”), from re- (“back”) and agō (“to do, perform”).^[7] The OED compares the earlier French nouns réacteur and révolutionnaire.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, a person in favour of reaction, especially one opposed to radical political or social reform and wishing to return to a former state of affairs: 1799, in a translation of Carnot's reply to the report on the conspiracy of 18 Fructidor.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to the politics of the French Revolution: French réaction had meant opposition to political progress or revolution since 1792.^[2] In English the adjective, opposing political or social progress, follows in 1815,^[2][6] and it came loosely to mean extremely conservative.^[2] In Marxist use, by 1858, it meant tending to reverse existing tendencies, the opposite of revolutionary, and it was used as a term of abuse for opponents of communism.^[7] A general sense, of or relating to a reaction or reversal of any kind, is recorded from 1847,^[2][7] but Etymonline calls the non-political use rare.^[7]

Timeline

• 1799 – noun, a person favouring reaction and opposed to radical reform.^[2] Etymonline dates the noun to 1855, Barnhart to 1858.^[7][3]
• 1815 – adjective, opposing political or social progress, in the Times.^[2][6] Etymonline dates the adjective to 1831, and Barnhart to 1840, in John Stuart Mill.^[7][3]
• 1847 – of or relating to a reaction or reversal in general, in Grote's History of Greece.^[2][7]
• 1858 – in Marxist use, tending to reverse existing tendencies.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Opposing political or social progress or reform and favouring a return to an earlier order; very conservative: a reactionary government that rolled back the new labour laws.^[8][6][2][9]
2. Of, relating to, or forming a reaction or reversal of some kind.^[2][8]

Noun

1. A person who opposes political or social progress or reform.^[2][6][8][9]

Word family

• reactionaryism
• reactionism

Related words

• reaction
• react
• reactor
• revolutionary

Usage notes

Collins also records reactionist as an adjective and noun, and reactionarist for the noun.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press