I. ˈtōrē, ˈtȯrē, -ri noun
( -es )
Etymology: Irish Gaelic tōraidhe pursued man, robber, from Middle Irish tōir pursuit
1. often capitalized
a. : a dispossessed Irishman of the 17th century subsisting primarily by highway robbery and agrarian outrages perpetrated especially upon the English settlers and soldiers
b. : any armed Irish papist or royalist of later times
2. obsolete : one in another country resembling an Irish tory : bandit , marauder , outlaw , robber , terrorist
among the tories in the Highlands — James Kirkton
3. usually capitalized : one opposing the exclusion in 1679-80 of the Duke of York from the line of succession to the British throne principally because of his Roman Catholicism — usually used disparagingly; opposed to Whig
4. usually capitalized : a member or supporter of the Tory party in British politics
5. usually capitalized : an American upholding the cause of the British Crown against the supporters of colonial independence during the American Revolution : loyalist — opposed to Whig
6. sometimes capitalized : one held to resemble a British Tory in politics especially in allegiance to the established order
7. : one who emphasizes order, tradition, stability, or accepted canons of taste, opinion, or conduct in any area of human interest or concern especially at the expense of innovation : one who by temperament or sentiment is inclined to conservative principles
II. adjective
: of, relating to, or characterized by Toryism: as
a. usually capitalized
(1) : of, relating to, or constituting one of the two major British political groups of the 18th and early 19th centuries arising from the Cavaliers and associated chiefly with support at first of the Stuarts but later of the monarchy itself and also of the established Anglican Church and with the preservation of the traditional political structure especially as represented by the unreformed House of Commons — compare liberal , radical , whig
(2) : conservative 2b(1)
(3) : favoring, belonging to, or composed of members of such a political group or party
openly Tory in his sympathies
formation of a Tory Government
the tradition of authority is naturally a Tory tradition — H.R.H.Cecil
b. often capitalized : characterized by Toryism especially in social and economic relationships
Roosevelt Republicanism which is tory in spirit but popular in its appeal — Walter Lippmann
a slow-moving and tory society — C.W. de Kiewiet
c. : tending toward extreme political and economic conservatism
tory Democrats in the Senate — Henry Wallace
Synonyms: see conservative