How to Use draconian in a Sentence

draconian

adjective
  • The editorial criticizes the draconian measures being taken to control the spread of the disease.
  • Boyer levied draconian taxes in order to pay back the loans.
    Marlene Daut, Quartz Africa, 3 July 2020
  • Some inmates sentenced to decades in prison under past policies that reform advocates consider to be draconian have been set free.
    James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2024
  • This radical measure would eliminate the word police from our community and make draconian cuts to crucial police funding.
    Sharon Coolidge, The Enquirer, 18 Aug. 2020
  • But the letter’s chief concern is not journalists living under hostile governments, despite the fact that countries around the world impose draconian limits on press freedom.
    Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 13 July 2020
  • Those small theaters began losing access to license classic Fox films for distribution, with rules that felt draconian and unevenly applied.
    Kate Cox, Ars Technica, 11 Aug. 2020
  • The more that Americans grow accustomed to being jerks, the more draconian the rules of the Masters seem.
    Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 6 Apr. 2022
  • The Taliban are again ruling through fear and draconian rules.
    Atal Ahmadzai, The Conversation, 18 Jan. 2022
  • Some point to Musk’s draconian cuts at Twitter as a pivot point for the industry.
    Clare Duffy, CNN, 6 Apr. 2023
  • After New York passed a law with draconian limits on Airbnb, chaos reigns.
    WIRED, 13 Oct. 2023
  • The safety protocols in place for the new season can feel draconian at times.
    Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 13 Mar. 2021
  • The Taliban interpretation of sharia is among the most draconian in the world.
    Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2021
  • That may seem draconian to some Americans, but the data shows these measures worked to save lives.
    Dean Obeidallah, CNN, 16 Jan. 2022
  • The sequester was a gun Congress held to its own head, designed to be so lethal that our lawmakers wouldn’t dare to pull the trigger in the form of draconian budget cuts.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2022
  • And for what? There was a point at which draconian restrictions on travel made a certain sense.
    Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 8 Sep. 2021
  • This draconian 1864 ban will hurt women across this state.
    Laura Gersony, The Arizona Republic, 9 July 2024
  • Enforcement of laws that embody a policy the enforcers agree with, and doing so in a draconian way, is only one face of the coin.
    Michael B. Mukasey, National Review, 9 May 2023
  • Like many African countries, Ghana has draconian antigay laws dating back to the colonial era.
    Chioma Nnadi, Vogue, 6 Oct. 2022
  • On the other hand, in some states the misperception has led to draconian policies that don’t square with science.
    Apoorva Mandavilli New York Times, Star Tribune, 23 Nov. 2020
  • And now, with the draconian and anti-science and anti-medicine laws being passed there, the Grants of today have fewer rights than the Grants of yesteryear.
    Grant Hughes, Glamour, 13 July 2022
  • Well, their approach has been very, very severe and rather draconian in the kinds of shutdowns without a seeming purpose.
    NBC News, 27 Nov. 2022
  • His last role, as the face of China’s draconian Covid-19 restrictions, was anything but.
    Liyan Qi, WSJ, 2 Nov. 2023
  • North Korea has taken some of the most draconian steps seen anywhere in the world to try to keep the virus out, describing it as a matter of national survival.
    Dasl Yoon, WSJ, 13 May 2022
  • The agreement is far less draconian than a debt limit bill that passed the House in April with only Republican support.
    Jim Puzzanghera, BostonGlobe.com, 31 May 2023
  • Then there is the nuclear option, a penalty so draconian that no one likes spelling it out in public.
    Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 17 Feb. 2023
  • Others lament the inability to enroll their girls in schools, given the draconian edicts of the extremists in charge in Kabul.
    Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 6 Nov. 2023
  • Public safety concerns about both seals and sharks could have led to draconian measures, such as culling, but instead nature was left to take its course.
    Jim Behnke, Scientific American, 2 July 2023
  • Sam’s is on Belden Place, where outdoor restaurants managed to get through some of the more draconian health regulations.
    Carl Nolte, San Francisco Chronicle, 20 Feb. 2021
  • Word quickly spread that the armed group would impose draconian restrictions on society and shut down schools for girls.
    USA TODAY, 13 Aug. 2023
  • The governor and his political allies have publicly denounced Proposition 36, calling it draconian crime reform.
    Anabel Sosa, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'draconian.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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