pseudoconservative
1
9.5
- adjective
- /ˌsuːdoʊkənˈsɜːrvətɪv/
- Literature
- Many politicians adopt a pseudoconservative stance to attract voters while secretly supporting liberal policies.
Examples
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I'm sorry to hear you're being treated to the same sort of pseudoconservative nonsense we've got over here.
Blog text (15) -
Neither President Obama's first popular election nor second means anything but a target to these pseudoconservative thugs, while an enlarged Democratic Senate and superior national
Blog text (19) -
Critics argue that his pseudoconservative views are merely a facade to maintain popularity in the party.
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The article exposed the pseudoconservative tactics used by the group to mislead the public about their true agenda.
How Conservative
5
6.5
778
4.4
- Literature
1
9.5
114
4.6
480
6.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
pseudoconservative = conservative (semi-transparent) = pseudo + conserve + ative
The word is a regular prefixation of 'conservative' with pseudo-, so the structure is easy to recover.
Etymology
Pseudoconservative comes from pseudo- meaning 'false' and conservative, related to conserve, meaning 'to keep'. So it describes something that looks like it wants to keep old ideas but is really only pretending to be conservative.