Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Exceedingly harsh; very severe.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Same as
Draconic .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Pertaining to Draco, a famous lawgiver of Athens, 621 b. c. Used especially in the phrase Draconian punishment.
- adjective a code of laws made by Draco. Their measures were so severe that they were said to be written in letters of blood; hence, any laws of excessive rigor.
- adjective punishment so severe as to seem excessive for the crime being punished.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Very
severe ,oppressive orstrict . - adjective obsolete, except in fiction Of or resembling a
dragon
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of or relating to Draco or his harsh code of laws
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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BAA Chief Executive Colin Matthews said he was dismayed by the decision, which he called "draconian."
U.K. Stands by Airport-Sale Ruling Kaveri Niththyananthan 2011
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The report said Cosatu would also like to see the elections postponed to enable the scrapping of what he called draconian laws that restricted political activity and media coverage.
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GMB, Unison and Unite released a joint statement attacking BCBC Job Evaluation proposals, which they described as "draconian" and "seeking confrontation" with staff.
WalesOnline - Home 2011
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Democrats lashed out at Schwarzenegger for proposing what they called draconian cuts while refusing to hike taxes and coddling corporations, who are due to receive more than $2 billion in tax breaks in 2011.
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Dayton said he campaigned and was elected on a promise not to make spending cuts to a level he called "draconian."
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Dayton said he campaigned and was elected on a promise not to make spending cuts to a level he called "draconian."
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The same critics have been making these claims about every previous attempt to rein in piracy, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that was called a draconian antipiracy measure at the time of its passage in 1998.
Internet to Artists: Drop Dead Stan Liebowitz 2012
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Dayton said he campaigned and was elected on a promise not to make spending cuts to a level he called "draconian."
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The crisis is then used as an excuse to bring in draconian measures to close the door to the most needy and vulnerable.
The Ocean Lady: Rethinking “Illegal” Migration in Canada : Law is Cool 2009
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Dayton said he campaigned and was elected on a promise not to make spending cuts to a level he called "draconian."
man commented on the word draconian
See also draconic
December 17, 2006
arby commented on the word draconian
I always want this word to have some kind of fantasy component, probably confusing it with dragonian.
July 21, 2007
slumry commented on the word draconian
That softens it! ;-)
July 21, 2007
kewpid commented on the word draconian
“…draconian anti-terrorism legislation.�? The “draconian�? seems redundant these days.
May 19, 2008
marrymemckean commented on the word draconian
A good example of why examples need to be clustered. All of the 'Dragons' examples should be under one larger heading, and all other examples under another 'English usage' heading. especially since the dicdefs don't list "evil creature spawned from Weis and Hickman's imagination" as an option.
January 28, 2010