status quo
How things stand
Status quo is the existing state of affairs—how things currently are.
The phrase is Latin for "the state in which," borrowed into English as a fixed expression.
It often appears in discussions of change versus stability: defenders of the status quo, a challenge to the status quo.
To maintain the status quo is to keep things as they are, often implying resistance to reform or progress.
Resistance to altered motion
- stagnationAbsence of flow or progress
- unchangingNot varying at all
- staticWithout motion or change
- unchangedNot modified at all
immovable · stagnant · fixed · constant · perpetuation · continuity · entrenchment · rigidity
Current power structure
- standard practiceEstablished customary method
- mainstreamDominant cultural current
- normativeSetting behavioral standards
- acceptedFormally agreed to
customary · conventional · routine · habitual · typical · commonplace · ordinary · usual
Maintaining something's condition
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- establishmentFounded organization or venue
- reactionaryAnti-progress political stance
- old guardConservative faction within organization
vested interests · incumbency · institutionalism · protectionism · defensiveness · risk aversion · caution · traditionalism
Forceful interruption of process
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- upheavalViolent disturbance of order
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
- transformationThorough change in form
shake-up · overhaul · paradigm shift · change agent · innovation · progressive · activist · dissent
inertia
Resistance to altered motion
- stagnationAbsence of flow or progress
- unchangingNot varying at all
- staticWithout motion or change
unchanged · immovable · stagnant · fixed · constant · perpetuation · continuity · entrenchment · rigidity · equilibrium
established order
Current power structure
- standard practiceEstablished customary method
- mainstreamDominant cultural current
- normativeSetting behavioral standards
accepted · customary · conventional · routine · habitual · typical · commonplace · ordinary · usual · orthodoxy
preservation
Maintaining something's condition
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- establishmentFounded organization or venue
- reactionaryAnti-progress political stance
old guard · vested interests · incumbency · institutionalism · protectionism · defensiveness · risk aversion · caution · traditionalism · guardianship
disruption
Forceful interruption of process
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- upheavalViolent disturbance of order
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
transformation · shake-up · overhaul · paradigm shift · change agent · innovation · progressive · activist · dissent · rebellion
- complacency phrasesgood enough, why bother, it is what it is, not my problem, whatever
- Latin phrasesE pluribus unum, carpe diem, caveat emptor, veni vidi vici, ad astra
- Complacencytoo comfortable, going through motions, phoning it in, mailing it in, self-satisfied
- conformityconformity, conforming, conform, conformist, conformism
- normsnorm, norms, standard, social norms, rule
- situationssituation, circumstance, condition, predicament, dilemma
status quorevolution
Violent governmental overthrow
change · radical change · transformation · upheaval · disruption
status quoreform
Improve by correcting faults
progress · advancement · improvement · modernization · social progress
state, status, statute, status update, quo, status symbol, quondam, status report