1. Any of a group of British workers who, between 1811 and 1816, rioted and destroyed laborsaving textile machinery in the belief that the use of such machinery reduced wages and increased unemployment.
2. Someone who opposes technical or technological change or progress: Dina always feels like such a Luddite when she is faced with trying to understand, or to use, new electronic media.

There are those who believe that Modern Luddites invent "machines" designed as computer viruses, cyberworms, and other malware in order to destroy or to disrupt the technologies which bothers them.

The word Luddite came from a British industrial protest and it turns up linguistically in applications that suggest some people are confused not just about technology, but also about who the original Luddites were and what being a modern one really means.

The self-styled followers of Ned Ludd, who strived for workers to receive some of the financial benefit from the mechanization of the weaving industry, were able to communicate to the general public only through letters to newspapers and with public speeches during demonstrations.