Luddites

1. Opponents of the introduction of labor-saving machinery. The original Luddites, followers of a legendary Ned Ludd, were British laborers of the early nineteenth century who smashed textile-making machines that threatened their jobs.

Contemporary opponents of technological change are sometimes called “Luddites.”

Example Sentences

The original Luddites—English textile workers who objected to mechanical looms and destroyed them in protest—believed they were fighting for their very existence.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders has embraced the Luddites’ cause, calling for taxes on robots.

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The Luddites, a movement of 19th-century textile workers who resisted the automation of their trade, didn’t hate all technology, or progress, as is commonly misunderstood — they opposed technology that was hurtful to society at large.

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Although the dictionary also mentions that Luddites were a real 19th Century movement, this is not the main way in which people use the term.

Read more on Salon

Observers, reporters, and even the Hollywood workers themselves began to refer to the strikers as Luddites.

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