Instead, I've begun using the word that really is the opposite of "liberal." Living in Indiana, there is no shortage of folks you encounter who use the word "liberal" as a pejorative. Several times in the past few weeks when I've encountered such folks I ask them, "Do you know what the opposite of liberal is?" They've replied, "Conservative." I inform them that this is incorrect and they ask, "Well, what is it then?" I say, "illiberal." In three of four cases, really unsurprisingly, they've replied, "Illiberal. I like that."

I'm in no danger of offending these people. They don't read and so it is unlikely in the extreme that they'll ever bother to look up the definition or its synonyms.