noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/kənˈsɜːvətɪzəm/
Canada, General-American:/kənˈsɝvətɪzəm/
North CarolinaRecorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Australian:/kənˈsɜːvətɪzəm/
New-Zealand:/kənˈsøːvətəzəm/
CMU ARPABET:K AH0 N S ER1 V AH0 T IH2 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A political philosophy that advocates traditional values.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A risk-averse attitude or approach.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a political or theological orientation advocating the preservation of the best in society and opposing radical changes
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: conservativism
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: political orientation, ideology, political theory
Narrower terms: neoconservatism, reaction
History
Etymology
Either irregularly from conservative + -ism or from conservate + -ism; ultimately from Latin cōnservāre (“to conserve; to keep, guard, observe”).
Across languages
Translations
79 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
سِيَاسَة مُحَافِظَة
(siyāsa muḥāfiẓa)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Arabic:
فِكْر مُحَافِظ
(fikr muḥāfiẓ)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Armenian:
պահպանողականություն
(pahpanoġakanutʻyun)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Azerbaijani:
mühafizəkarlıq
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Belarusian:
кансерваты́зм
(kansjervatýzm)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Bengali:
রক্ষণশীলতাবাদ
(rokkhonośiltabad)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Bulgarian:
консервати́зъм
(konservatízǎm)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Burmese:
ရှေးရိုးစွဲဝါဒ
(hre:rui:cwai:wada.)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Catalan:
conservadorisme
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Hakka Chinese:
保守主義 /保守主义
(pó-sú chú-ngi)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Chinese:
保守主義 /保守主义
(pó-siú chú-gī)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Chinese Mandarin:
保守主義 /保守主义
(bǎoshǒuzhǔyì)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Czech:
konzervatismus
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Danish:
konservatisme
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Dutch:
conservatisme
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Estonian:
konservatism
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Estonian:
konservatiivsus
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Faroese:
konservatisma
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Faroese:
íhaldssemi
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Finnish:
konservatiivisuus
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Finnish:
konservatismi
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
French:
conservatisme
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
West-Frisian:
konservatisme
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Georgian:
კონსერვატიზმი
(ḳonservaṭizmi)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
German:
Konservatismus
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
German:
Konservativismus
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Greek:
συντηρητισμός
(syntiritismós)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Hindi:
रूढ़िवाद
(rūṛhivād)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Hungarian:
konzervativizmus
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Icelandic:
íhald
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Icelandic:
íhaldsstefna
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Irish:
coimeádachas
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Italian:
conservatorismo
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Japanese:
保守主義
(hoshushugi)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Kazakh:
консерватизм
(konservatizm)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Kazakh:
сақтанымпаздық
(saqtanympazdyq)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Korean:
보수주의
(bosujuui)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Lao:
ອານຸລັກນິຍົມ
(ʼā nu lak ni nyom)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Latvian:
konservatīvisms
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Lithuanian:
konservatizmas
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Macedonian:
конзервативизам
(konzervativizam)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Malay:
konservatisme
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Malay:
faham konservatif
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Malayalam:
യാഥാസ്ഥിതികത്വം
(yāthāsthitikatvaṁ)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Norwegian Bokmål:
konservatisme
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Norwegian Nynorsk:
konservatisme
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Persian:
محافظهکاری
(mohâfeze-kâri)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Polish:
konserwatyzm
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Portuguese:
conservadorismo
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Romanian:
conservatorism
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Romanian:
conservatism
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Russian:
консервати́зм
(konservatízm)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Serbo-Croatian:
конзервативѝзам
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Serbo-Croatian:
konzervativìzam
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Sinhalese:
කොන්සවේටිව්වාදය
(konsawēṭiwwādaya)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Slovak:
konzervativizmus
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Slovene:
konservatizem
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Spanish:
conservadurismo
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Spanish:
conservatismo
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Spanish:
conservadorismo
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Swedish:
konservatism
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Tagalog:
panininggal
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Tamil:
பழைமைவாதம்
(paḻaimaivātam)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Thai:
อนุรักษนิยม
(à-nú-rák-sà-ní-yom)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Turkish:
muhafazakârlık
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Ukrainian:
консервати́зм
(konservatýzm)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Vietnamese:
chủ nghĩa bảo thủ
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Welsh:
ceidwadaeth
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Yiddish:
קאָנסערוואַטיזם
(konservatizm)
— political philosophy that favors maintaining limited government involvement
Faroese:
íhaldssemi
— political philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Finnish:
varovaisuus
— political philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Georgian:
კონსერვატიზმი
(ḳonservaṭizmi)
— political philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
German:
Konservatismus
— political philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Hungarian:
konzervativizmus
— political philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Irish:
coimeádachas
— political philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Macedonian:
конзервативизам
(konzervativizam)
— political philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Polish:
konserwatyzm
— political philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Portuguese:
conservadorismo
— political philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
Swedish:
konservatism
— political philosophy that moral objectivism exists, and should be adhered to
