as in conservativeness
attitudes or opinions tending to favor established ideas, conditions, or institutions the state's well-known conservatism means that progressive legislation always has an uphill battle

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Recent Examples of conservatism Traditional conservatism emphasized small government and fiscal responsibility. Jameelah Nasheed, Essence, 1 Apr. 2025 On top of that, Germany’s fiscal conservatism precluded major defense investments. Ned Temko, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Mar. 2025 The pre-Trump status quo was better than anything else that anyone has ever come up with Democrats are temperamentally ill-suited toward conservatism. Ian Millhiser, Vox, 21 Mar. 2025 The company reported a strong quarter in early February but left its outlook unchanged for the rest of the year out of prudence and conservatism. Jeff Marks, CNBC, 10 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for conservatism

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“Conservatism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conservatism. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.

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