Draconian

[ drey-koh-nee-uh n, druh- ]

/ dreɪˈkoʊ ni ən, drə- /

of, relating to, or characteristic of the Athenian statesman Draco, or his severe code of laws.

(often lowercase) rigorous; unusually severe or cruel: Draconian forms of punishment.

Also Draconic.

Origin of Draconian

1810–20; < Latin Dracōn- (stem of Draco) + -ian

Dra·co·ni·an·ism, noun

Human rights groups, however, said the measures were “draconian” and counter-productive.

To Stop ISIS, Britain Is Set to Stop Free Speech |Nico Hines |November 25, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
This photograph is a critique of how draconian the rules of society can be.

‘Gods of Suburbia’: Dina Goldstein’s Arresting Photo Series on Religion vs. Consumerism |Dina Goldstein |November 8, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
A top National Institutes of Health official called the quarantines “draconian.”

Are Mandatory Ebola Quarantines Legal? |Tim Mak |October 28, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
I fear the latter, given the draconian governmental measures over a single case, but time will tell.

It’s Not Time to Worry About China’s Plague Just Yet |Kent Sepkowitz |July 23, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

Draconian punishments were meted out to supposed sinners and traitors.

Saddam’s Former Deputy, the Red Skull of Baghdad, Still at Large in Iraq and Allied With ISIS |Jacob Siegel, Christopher Dickey |July 21, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He read the sentence through three times, and then recollected that he had not looked up the Draconian reforms.

The Cruise of the Dazzler |Jack London
These Draconian rules obviate our degrading system of affiliation summonses.

The American Egypt |Channing Arnold
What shall we say of the ingenious system of penal laws, which, with Draconian cruelty, was enacted against Catholicity?

The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, January 1865 |Various
Which was all very well, if he had only found out what the Draconian reforms were.

The Cruise of the Dazzler |Jack London
If there are exceptions who do not subscribe to these Draconian laws of the Parisian code, they are solitary examples.

Father Goriot |Honore de Balzac

draconian

/ (dreɪˈkəʊnɪən) /

of or relating to Draco, 7th-century Athenian statesman and lawmaker, or his code of laws, which prescribed death for almost every offence

harsh draconian legislation

draconianism, noun