reactionaryadj/ɹiˈækʃən(ə)ɹi/

• 1

  governmentpoliticsExtremely conservative; opposing revolution (such as the French Revolution); favoring a return to a "golden age" of the past.

  • There's a fairly simple reason for the embrace of radicalism on the right, and it has to do with the reactionary imperative that lies at the core of conservative doctrine. […] If he is to preserve what he values, the conservative must declare war against the culture as it is.
  • [Jeffrey] Epstein was interested in transhumanism, a theory of human perfection via technological manipulation that—like its predecessor, eugenics—is shot through with racist and reactionary ideas.
• 2

  chemistrynatural-sciencesphysical-sciencesOf, pertaining to, participating in, or inducing a chemical reaction.

  • Psychiatry extends the theory into biology in the belief that all human behavior is nothing more than a series of reactionary chemical processes in the brain that determine pre-coded genetic responses built up from the conditioning of one’s environment.
• 3

  In reaction to; as a result of.

  • The regulator noted that reduced service levels and passenger numbers helped deliver strong performance, with fewer reactionary delays.

reactionarynoun/ɹiˈækʃən(ə)ɹi/

• 1

  governmentpoliticsOne who opposes revolution, wanting to reverse it, favoring a return to a past golden age, often used derogatorily by revolutionaires.

  • Hindu reactionaries, whose conception of a well-ordered society had not moved beyond the laws of Manu, fell into line for the moment with the intellectual products of the modern Indian University.
  • He was not a drunkard, not a chronic bankrupt. For the rest, Mr. Woodward depicts [Thomas] Paine as a highminded controversialist, persecuted by reactionaries on both sides of the Atlantic for no more than liberal political views.