Both Uses of
reactionary
in
Crime and Punishment, by Dostoyevsky
- Meanwhile the really new people are very often unobserved by them, or even despised as reactionaries of grovelling tendencies.†
Chpt 3.5 *
- Did you suppose I was such a monster, such a reactionary, such a slave driver?†
Chpt 4.1
Definitions:
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(1)
(reactionary) someone who is extremely opposed to change; or relating to such a viewpointReactionary is most often used by people who are eager for political or social change to describe people or ideas that they consider exceedingly conservative. People can be referred to as reactionaries or as having reactionary responses. The implication is that such people do not think about what is best. Instead they instinctively react in opposition to any change.
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Less commonly, reactionary can just refer to something that changes in response to what happens--such as a chemical.