: not reconciled to some political, economic, or social change
an unreconstructed rebel
also: holding stubbornly to a particular belief, view, place, or style
an unreconstructed hard-liner
Did you know?
The reorganization and reestablishment of the seceded states in the Union after the American Civil War is referred to as the Reconstruction. The earliest known use of unreconstructed is by a writer for the Boston, Massachusetts, publication The Liberator, who in 1865 used it to describe Southerners who were not reconciled to the outcome of the War and the changes enacted during the Reconstruction. The word immediately caught on and has been used to refer to intransigent or dyed-in-the-wool partisans ever since. The word is also used outside of political and social contexts, as when a person is described as "an unreconstructed rocker" or "an unreconstructed romantic."
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebStem to stern, the GOP is sailing with a full complement of unreconstructed chaos agents. Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 20 Aug. 2022 Earlier waves of tenants included Jewish European émigrés, unreconstructed Socialists and scores of psychoanalysts.New York Times, 27 June 2022 Falwell cast Trump, still regarded by many believers as an unreconstructed sinner, as a pragmatic businessman who would honor his promises to evangelicals. Megan K. Stack, The New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2022 There are lots of compelling ideas like that, from flat-taxers and fair-taxers and unreconstructed Georgists and other sundry practitioners of wonkery. Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 30 Mar. 2022 Outside the home, French onion soup is best eaten in an unreconstructed bistro. Joshua David Stein, WSJ, 18 Mar. 2022 Other documents were delivered in unreconstructed pieces. Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2022 And indeed, some of the people who came to work for Gröning were unreconstructed followers of Hitler. Richard J. Evans, The New Republic, 1 Dec. 2021 But the crusher was George Norris, the unreconstructed populist senator from Nebraska, who insisted that the people, not some capitalist, should develop such a major public work. Edward Kosner, WSJ, 22 Dec. 2021 See More