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conservative

con·ser·va·tive/kənˈsɝvətɪv/noun, adjective

conservative is spelled C-O-N-S-E-R-V-A-T-I-V-E, 4 syllables: con·ser·va·tive. The wrong spelling people search most is conservitive: about 100 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 61 of all searches for the word. Conservative is a noun meaning “A person who favors maintenance of the status quo”. The plural of conservative is conservatives.

How many letters and syllables are in conservative?

Letters12: C-O-N-S-E-R-V-A-T-I-V-E
Syllables4: con·ser·va·tive
In writing41 times per million words; the 2,438th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, conservitive, about 100 Bing searches a month (all of them)

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you spell conservative?

Conservative is spelled C-O-N-S-E-R-V-A-T-I-V-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 61 of the searches for conservative in either form.

conservativethe right spelling5,950 searches a month
conservitivei in place of a100 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is conservative?

Conservative appears 41 times per million words in written English, the 2,438th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce conservative?

  • UK /kənˈsɜːvətɪv/
  • UK /kənˈzɜːvətɪv/
  • US /kənˈsɝvətɪv/

Conservative has 4 syllables, split con·ser·va·tive in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-conservative.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of conservative

  • conservatives plural
  • more conservative comparative
  • most conservative superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does conservative mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A person who favors maintenance of the status quo.

  2. 2

    One who seeks to promote or preserve traditional values or institutions.

  3. 3

    CanadaUSOne who seeks to promote traditions in a particular domain (e.g. a fiscal conservative or a social conservative).

adjective

  1. 1

    Cautious, moderate.

    The chef added a conservative amount of salt to the dish.

  2. 2

    Tending to resist change or innovation.

    The curriculum committee at this university is extremely conservative.

  3. 3

    Based on pessimistic assumptions, and on the low side.

    At a conservative estimate, growth may even be negative next year.

  4. 4

    CanadaUSSupporting some combination of fiscal, political or social conservatism.

  5. 5

    UKRelating to the Conservative Party.

  6. 6

    Neither creating nor destroying a given quantity.

  7. 7

    Having power to preserve in a safe or entire state, or from loss, waste, or injury; preservative.

  8. 8

    Relating to Conservative Judaism.

noun

as Conservative
  1. 1

    UKA member of the Conservative party.

  2. 2

    CanadaA member or supporter of the Conservative Party of Canada, or its predecessors, or provincial equivalents, or their predecessors

  3. 3

    pertaining to Conservative Judaism

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Conservative in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanKonservativer (one who favors the status quo), Konservative (UK: member of the Conservative party), konservativ (tending to resist change)
Portugueseconservador (one who favors the status quo), conservadora (UK: member of the Conservative party), prudente (based on pessimistic assumptions), republicano (US: relating to the Republican party)
Spanishconservador (one who favors the status quo), conservadora (UK: member of the Conservative party), conservativo (tending to resist change)
Frenchconservateur, conservatrice (UK: member of the Conservative party), prudent (based on pessimistic assumptions), archaïque (linguistics: having few changes relative to an…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does conservative come from?

Borrowed from Middle French conservatif, from Latin cōnservō (“to preserve”). Equivalent to conserve + -ative.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after conservative