draconian dray-KOHN-ee-uhn; druh-, adjective:
1. Pertaining to Draco, a lawgiver of Athens, 621 B.C.
2. Excessively harsh; severe.
It was drizzling outside Friday as the governor was unveiling his budget with its painful program cuts that even he called draconian.
-- George Skelton, "The worst budget mess ever", Los Angeles Times, January 11, 2010
In October 1996 Allen publicly admitted that his draconian cost-cutting campaign had had devastating effects on Delta's workforce.
-- Daniel Goleman, Working with Emotional Intelligence
The most straightforward solution would be a draconian crackdown on all unrest -- curfews, house-to-house searches, firing on armed rioters, mass internment, widespread use of capital punishment for terrorists, and so on.
-- John O'Sullivan, "Dangerous Restraint", National Review, April 6, 2004
Draconian refers to a code of laws made by Draco. Their measures were so severe that they were said to be written in blood.
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