conservative

«conservative» in Mova's school dictionary: Not liking sudden change and preferring traditional ways… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (conservative; more conservative, most conservative); noun (a conservative, conservatives; a Conservative)

meaning for a pupil

1) Not liking sudden change and preferring traditional ways, values and styles: «My grandad has conservative taste in music». tree →

2) (estimates) Careful and on the low side, so the real number is probably bigger: «a conservative estimate». tree →

3) (politics) Supporting traditional values, gradual change, lower taxes and free business; in the UK and Canada, a Conservative is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party (also called the Tories). tree →

4) (clothes, style) Plain and not showy: «a conservative suit». tree →

5) (noun) A person who has conservative views. tree →

sense in the lessons

In citizenship and politics lessons, pupils learn the main UK parties (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats and others) and that in the USA the Republican Party is usually called conservative. In maths and science, a «conservative estimate» means one chosen low on purpose to be safe. In everyday life it describes cautious people, plain clothes, or careful choices. Phrases: «a conservative estimate», «the Conservative Party», «at a conservative guess», «socially conservative».

examples

• At a conservative estimate, two thousand people came to the fair. tree →
• My grandma is quite conservative and doesn't like loud colours. tree →
• The Conservatives won the most seats in the election. tree →
• Dad wore a conservative grey suit to the interview. tree →
• Some people are conservative about money and save carefully. tree →
• Each side has good ideas, and people can be conservative or progressive and still be kind to each other. tree →
• The doctor took a conservative approach and waited before operating. tree →

note

With a capital C it means the political party (UK, Canada); with a small c it means traditional or cautious in general. In maths, a conservative estimate is a deliberately low (safe) guess, so the true number is likely higher. The opposite in politics is often called «liberal» or «progressive». In science, «conservation» (saving nature or energy) is a different word from «conservative», though they share a root.

In the corpora

• In the UK, Labour and the Conservatives have been the two biggest parties for a long time.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «conservative» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.