Word.ws English Dictionary

tory

/ˈtɔː.ɹi/US/ˈtoɹ.i/

tory is the alternative letter-case form of Tory.

Noun capitalized: Tory

Tory (plural Tories)

  1. (UK) A member or supporter of the Conservative Party, which evolved from Royalist politicians; historically associated with upholding the rights of the monarchy and the privileges of the established Church.
    Synonyms:
    Conservative
    Antonyms:
    Whig
  2. (broadly) One who is like a British Tory; someone politically conservative.
  3. (Canadian) A member or supporter of the Conservative Party of Canada, one of that party's predecessors, or an affiliated provincial political party.
    • The latest Tory budget continued the trend begun in 2000 by making further small cuts in family income taxes.2008, David Mutimer, Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs 2002, page 220
  4. (derogatory, historical) A member of the political factions that sought to prevent the exclusion of James, Duke of York, from the throne of England in the 17th century.
    Antonyms:
    Exclusioner
  5. (derogatory, historical) An Irish rebel fighting against English rule at the end of the Confederate War and Cromwellian invasion; later extended to other rebels or bandits.
    • Ho! Master Teague, what is your story? / I went to the wood and kill’d a tory; / […] I hunted him in, and I hunted him out, / Three times through the bog, about and about; / When out of a bush I saw his head, / So I fired my gun, and I shot him dead.1886, James Orchard Haliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England, 5th edition, page 7
  6. (US, historical) A loyal British subject during the American Revolution.
    Antonyms:
    Whig
  7. (US, historical) A Union sympathizer in the Confederate States during the American Civil War.

Adjective capitalized: Tory

Tory (not comparable)

  1. (UK) Of or belonging to the Tory Party or the Conservative Party.
  2. (Canadian) Of or belonging to the Conservative Party of Canada, one of that party's predecessors, or an affiliated provincial political party.

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Tory

Tory

  1. A female given name.
  2. A male given name.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Tory

Tory

  1. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Tory Island, County Donegal, Ireland.

Synonyms of tory

Antonyms

Forms of tory

pluraltories
pluralTories

Origin of tory

See Tory.

From Irish tóraí (“pursuer”), from tóir (“pursuit”). The first recorded use in English is from a 1646 letter by James Butler, Earl of Ormond, to a Colonel O'Brien, describing bandits and thieves on main roadways.

Short for Victoria when used as a female name, and for Victor or Salvatore when used as a male name.

Words formed from tory

Phrases with tory

Words that rhyme with tory

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about tory

What does tory mean?
Tory means a member or supporter of the Conservative Party, which evolved from Royalist politicians; historically associated with upholding the rights of the monarchy and the privileges of the established Church.
What is tory the alternative letter-case form of?
Tory is the alternative letter-case form of Tory.
What part of speech is tory?
Tory can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce tory?
Tory is pronounced /ˈtɔː.ɹi/ (UK).
What is the plural of tory?
The plural of tory is tories.

Words near tory in the dictionary

  1. torward
  2. torwards
  3. Torwood
  4. Torx head
  5. Torx heads
  6. tory
  7. Tory Democracy
  8. Tory Democrat
  9. Tory Democrats
  10. Tory Island
  11. Tory Party

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tory (page history and authors); Tory (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Tory.wav.

Cite this entry: “tory.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tory. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.