'anticonservatism' is formed in Modern English by the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') attached to 'conservatism', which is based on Latin 'conservare' meaning 'to preserve'.

'conservatism' arose in English in the early 19th century (from French 'conservatisme' and Latin 'conservare'); the negative prefix 'anti-' (Greek) was later combined with it in Modern English to produce 'anticonservatism' as a back-formation meaning opposition to conservatism.

Initially, elements meant 'against' (anti-) and 'to preserve' (conservare); over time the compound came to mean specifically 'opposition to conservative political ideology' rather than a literal 'against preserving' sense.