a man whose political opinions always manage to keep up with yesterday

a rational moralist combating cultural and political insanity

Reactionary (or reactionist) is a political epithet, generally used as a pejorative, originally applied in the context of the French Revolution to counter-revolutionaries who wished to restore the real or imagined conditions of the monarchical Ancien Régime. Through the 19th century, it was used to refer to those who wished to preserve feudalism or aristocratic privilege against industrialism, republicanism, liberalism and in some cases socialism. The term "reactionary" is frequently used as a term of , meant to assert the idea that the opposition is based in merely reflexive politics rather than responsive and informed views.

A militant conservative; opposite of "radical," which means ultraliberal.