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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
draconian
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
measure
▪ At no time, however, did they use such draconian measures to stifle dissent.
▪ Becasue of these draconian measures, Park was increasingly cut off from normal human contacts.
▪ The argument of all crackdown law is that it applies special, draconian measures to tackle some heinous crime.
▪ No doubt there are scenarios where such draconian measures are justified.
▪ To some, this situation cries out for draconian measures to inject more competition.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Draconian measures have been implemented to control population growth.
▪ The government has imposed draconian penalties for anyone found in possession of illegal drugs.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A possible alternative to the draconian consequences of decertification is extending the probationary waiver another year, officials say.
▪ It is an interesting speculation whether the reintroduction of such draconian legislation might reduce more recent economic problems.
▪ No doubt there are scenarios where such draconian measures are justified.
▪ The argument of all crackdown law is that it applies special, draconian measures to tackle some heinous crime.
▪ The former, which is more draconian, may reflect the longer term perceived treatment needs of the men.
▪ The measure is not as draconian as it sounds.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Draconian

Draconian \Dra*co"ni*an\,

  1. Pertaining to Draco, a famous lawgiver of Athens, 621

  2. Used especially in the phrase Draconian punishment.

    Draconian code, or Draconian laws, 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.

    Draconian punishment, punishment so severe as to seem excessive for the crime being punishe

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
draconian

1876 (earlier Draconic, implied from 1640s), from Draco, Greek statesman who laid down a code of laws for Athens 621 B.C.E. that mandated death as punishment for minor crimes. His name seems to mean literally "sharp-sighted" (see dragon).

Wiktionary
draconian

Etymology 1 a. Very severe, oppressive or strict. Etymology 2

a. (context obsolete except in fiction English) Of or resembling a dragon

Wikipedia
Draconian

Draconian is an adjective meaning great severity, that derives from Draco, an Athenian law scribe under whom small offenses had heavy punishments (Draconian laws).

Draconian may also refer to:

  • Draconian (band), a Death/doom metal band from Sweden
  • Draconian (Doctor Who), an extraterrestrial race from the Doctor Who television series
  • Draconian (Dragonlance), a fictional species in the Dragonlance setting
  • Draconian, a race from Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
  • Draconian Empire, a Humanoid Race in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV series
  • The Draconian, school magazine of the Dragon School in Oxford, England
Draconian (Doctor Who)

The Draconians are an extraterrestrial race. They were featured in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Their only television appearance to date was in the 1973 serial Frontier in Space. Unlike many "monster" races in Doctor Who, the Draconians were articulate and portrayed as having a sophisticated and advanced culture like feudal Japan. In later interviews, Jon Pertwee cited the Draconians as his favourite of all the monsters he had encountered during his time as the Doctor.

The Draconian Empire was a vast spacefaring feudal civilisation of reptilian humanoids, centered on the planet Draconia, with a society stratifed along class and gender lines (for example, females were not permitted to speak in the presence of the Emperor) that was bound by a strong code of honour. The Draconian Empire dated back to at least the 21st century, when a space plague that afflicted their world was dealt with by the Doctor. For his services, the 15th Emperor made the Doctor a noble of Draconia.

The Earth Empire's first contact with the Draconian Empire was in the year 2520. The ship sent by the Draconians for the peace mission was a battlecruiser, as befitted a noble of Draconia, although (as agreed) its missile banks were empty and it was otherwise unarmed. However, both Draconian and Earth ships were caught in a neutron storm, damaging the Earth ship and destroying the Draconian ship's communications systems. As a result, the Draconian ship was unable to respond to the Earth ship's signals. The commander of the Earth ship saw what he perceived to be a battlecruiser bearing down on his crippled vessel and gave the order to attack, destroying the battlecruiser and triggering off a brief but bloody war in which millions of lives were lost. An uneasy peace was negotiated in the end, leading to two decades of cold war and the carving out of a frontier between the two empires.

In 2540, several incidents involving attacks on cargo freighters along their respective borders nearly led to the war turning hot once more, with both sides accusing the other of piracy and violating the frontier. These attacks turned out to be the work of Ogron mercenaries under the orders of the renegade Time Lord known as the Master, who was using a sonic hypnosis device to make the Earth crews see the Ogrons as Draconians and vice versa. The Master had allied himself with the Daleks, who were launching another bid for galactic conquest and hoped to pick up the pieces after a new Earth-Draconia War. The plot was revealed by the Third Doctor, and instead of going to war against each other, the two empires united against the Daleks.

Draconian (band)

Draconian is a metal band from Säffle, Sweden formed in 1994.

Draconian (video game)

Draconian is a computer game released in 1984. It was written by Mike Hughey and published via "Tom Mix Software". The game was only available for TRS-80 Color Computer. Draconian is based upon the game Bosconian where the player needs to navigate a space shuttle and needs to destroy the enemies bases. The enemy will do a counterattack and tries to destroy the users' space shuttle.

Furthermore, Draconian had some extra features:

  • The enemy got one or more prisoners who can be set free optionally by the player to gain more points.
  • The space shuttle is being attacked by little dragons.
  • There is one big indestructible dragon which chases the player when time is running out.
  • The user needs to avoid mines, asteroids, ...

To go to the next level the user needs to destroy all bases. If done, a small tunnel will open. The space shuttle will explode when the borders of the tunnel are hit. In case the user flies against the borders of the field, the space shuttle will bounce back.

Usage examples of "draconian".

Like most of the inhabitants of the Draconian system, Chev knew very little of matters outside his specialty, which was combat.

These secondary sanctions would have to be truly draconian to drive up the costs of smuggling so high that no oil company or arms maker, nor any country with such industries, would want to take the risk of being caught.

All had signed draconian nondisclosure agreements requiring them to post a significant personal bond in escrow, to submit to a polygraph test on request, and to allow ITC to tap their phones without notice.

Accordingly, he had wanted to find the right person for the job, someone without a lot of scruples, in case draconian methods became necessary, someone highly chauvinistic in the nonsexist sense of the term, and someone with some serious experience.

Canyon Ranch Nutrition Philosophy is strict, though not as draconian as Pritikin: 60 percent carbohydrates, mainly complex, 20 percent fat, 20 percent protein, 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day, high fiber, no caffeine, oils high in polyunsaturates, two grams of sodium, almost no refined flour.

Because these secondary sanctions would be so draconian, every time the United States intelligence community found a country guilty of smuggling with Iraq, its advocates within the U.

Security Council, attempted to honor that commitment by imposing a demanding set of disarmament and political requirements on Iraq backed by draconian sanctions and the implicit threat of additional military operations.

Plains tribes were scattered as much through vagrancy and underemployment as through anything the draconians were doing at the time, and the fact is that they were confined to a life of wandering and forage merely because so many of the more promising young people among them were hastened off to dance attendance on the various Chieftains and Chieftain's daughters.

Instead of gold-glinting scales and sleek wingless bodies, these draconians were brassy and bewinged.

Standing about four and a half feet tall, the dwarves ducked under the legs of the seven-foot tall draconians, whose chibs and sword blades generally whistled right over the dwarves' heads.

Kerian saw them, the Wilder Elves outflanked, the Knights and draconians rampaging among them, savaging Dars band from two sides.

In many respects, the entire planet could have been considered a vast toxic waste dump, where human-habitable enclaves could be carved out only through unremitting effort and where draconian birth control had been required for a millennium.

How all his people's efforts had resulted only in more savage and draconian laws, in fiercer oppressions.

The opportunists moved in and took over, and there were six years of Draconian laws and corrupt administrations from the lower to the upper Hudson.

In his eyes a crime was a crime and when he had finished his code, the people of Athens discovered that these Draconian laws were so severe that they could not possibly be put into effect.