conservative

1. conservative (noun) — sense 1

Definition: A person who favors maintenance of the status quo.

Example: During the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, this commitment brought him into frequent critical confrontation with entrenched forms of conservative thinking (in academic areas from history and social science to the more abstract domains of ethical and political philosophy),[…]

2. conservative (noun) — sense 2

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

Example: If there’s a down side to the film, it’s that “Soros” probably doesn’t devote enough time to the way its subject has become a favorite bogeyman to conservatives that paint him as the guiding hand behind grassroots campaigns by those intent on discrediting them.

3. conservative (noun) — sense 3

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

4. conservative (adj) — sense 4

Definition: Cautious, moderate.

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

5. conservative (adj) — sense 5

Definition: Tending to resist change or innovation.

Example: The curriculum committee at this university is extremely conservative.

6. conservative (adj) — sense 6

Definition: Based on pessimistic assumptions, and on the low side.

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