If used in a non-political sense, "conservative" simply means "not much."

Despite the misgivings of certain individuals who have an absurdly black/white view of the political spectrum, conservatism does not instantly mean hypocrasy and it certainly is not necessarily far-right in philosophy. Conservatism can be broadly categorised in two areas:

1. Fiscal conservatism. A belief in personal responsibility for finances. Scaling back taxation to allow greater control over individual incomes. Conservative thinking promotes cutbacks in public spending enabling tax breaks to be given to those that are earning, and believes in helping those out of work back into self sufficiency.

2. Social conservatism. Contrary to the fiscal conservatism, social conservatives believe in placing restrictions on personal freedoms, resulting in more government involvement into the daily lives of individuals. This is also known as neo-conservative.

1) One who espouses a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions, and preferring gradual development to abrupt change.

2) One who believes in less government being better government.

3) One who believes in such "outmoded" ideas as civil liberties (freedom of speech, separation of church and state, right to keep and bear arms, that kind of thing)

4) One for whom the Republican Party no longer truly speaks.

5) a word that today's so-called "conservatives" don't know the definition of.

1)A term for people who learn towards the right side of the political spectrum. Like all political idealogies, it has both good and bad points.
2)(In America) A political affliation. Conservatives tend to believe in people taking care of themselves with as little government help as possible. They do not usually believe in social welfare systems. They also tend beleive in a strict interpretation of the Constitution in regard to the powers of the governement. Many but not all conservatives are supportive of the war in Iraq. A large portion of conservatives are Republicans.
Sadly, some conservatives (as with all groups of people) are biased and blindlly accuse liberals and other people they don't like of being "un-american" or not committed to protecting our country from terrorists.
3)a) Careful or cautious about things
b) not given to flamboyancy.

1) A non argument used by people, egged on by talking heads. Often used in place of an intelligent point.

2) An economic ideology that emphasizes fiscal responsibility: Saving money as opposed to spending it.

3) A political ideology that less is more when in refference to the scale that Government should play in daily life.

4) Not to be confused with neo-conservative or neo con which emphasizes spending, and larger government.

Someone who loves the 1800's too much.

A person who espouses the idea of "less government". However, they tend to espouse the idea of "less government" more when it comes to spending money for social programs. They have no qualms about looking over people's shoulders, spying on or jailing people for suspected "un-American activities" at a base that is not even on American soil. Among their interference in our lives: spying on cell phone calls without permission of Congress, saying, "I'm the president. Why do I need anyone's permission?", or using brute military force to enforce their vision of that things should be like on the outside world. They believe in torture in the name of national security. As far as financial responsibility, they believe in shrinking down every part of the government but giving the Department of Defense what is essentially a blank check, and run up horrific deficits fighting senseless, endless wars. Strength is good, but waste is not. They are often religious, but they seem to have Jesus Christ confused with Ronald Reagan. Their philosophies are often subtly or blatantly racist and xenophobic, and they have been known to advocate disenfranchisement of women and minorities (see: ann coulter because these groups overwhelmingly vote liberal and are growing much faster than the aging white male voter base they rely on. Their failed policies were rejected in the 2008 election, by the "true" patriots of our great country.