draconian「嚴酷的；殘忍的」

Word of the Day ： November 19， 2021

draconian

嚴酷的；殘忍的

adjective dray-KOH-nee-un

wd20211119

wd20211119

01：30

未知來源

What It Means

Draconian means “cruel” or “severe。” It is usually used to describe harsh laws， rules， or regulations。

Draconian 的意思是“殘忍”或“嚴厲”。 它通常用於描述嚴苛的法律、規則或法規。

Examples

Small businesses believe that the new tax is draconian。

小企業認為新稅收是嚴厲的。

“Members of the public were mostly against the censure policy…。 They said the policy was draconian， divisive and unnecessary。” — Braden Cartwright， The Daily Post （Palo Alto， California）， 14 Oct。 2021

“公眾成員大多反對譴責這個政策

……

。他們說該政策是嚴厲的、分歧的的和不必要的。”

Did You Know?

Draconian comes from Draco， the name of a 7th-century B。C。 Athenian legislator who created a written code of law。 Draco‘s code was intended to clarify existing laws， but its severity is what made it really memorable。 According to the code， even minor offenses were punishable by death， and failure to pay one’s debts could result in slavery。 Draconian， as a result， became associated with especially authoritative actions that are viewed as cruel or harsh。

Draconian 來自 Draco，一個公元前 7 世紀的名字。 雅典立法者制定了成文法典。Draco‘s code 指澄清現有的法律，但它的嚴苛真是令人難忘。 根據該法典，即使是輕微的犯罪也會被處以死刑，不償還債務可能導致奴役。 因此，Draconian 與被視為殘忍或苛刻的權威行為聯絡在一起。

Quiz

Unscramble the letters to create an adjective meaning “aggressively self-assertive”： TTNRCUULE。

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