severity

Roget category 739

5. Words relating to the voluntary powers
› 5.6. General intersocial volition
››

#739. Severity

noun

severity — strictness, harshness etc. adj. — rigor, stringency, austerity — inclemency etc. (pitilessness) 914.1; arrogance etc. 885 — precisianism^†.
arbitrary power — absolutism, despotism — dictatorship, autocracy, tyranny, domineering, oppression — assumption, usurpation — inquisition, reign of terror, martial law — iron heel, iron rule, iron hand, iron sway — tight grasp — brute force, brute strength — coercion etc. 744 — strong hand, tight hand.
hard lines, hard measure — tender mercies [Iron.] — sharp practice — pipe-clay, officialism.
tyrant, disciplinarian, precisian^†, martinet, stickler, bashaw^†, despot, hard master, Draco, oppressor, inquisitor, extortioner, harpy, vulture — accipitres^†, birds of prey, raptorials^†, raptors^†.

verb

be severe etc. adj.. assume, usurp, arrogate, take liberties — domineer, bully etc. 885 — tyrannize, inflict, wreak, stretch a point, put on the screw — be hard upon — bear a heavy hand on, lay a heavy hand on — be down upon, come down upon — ill treat — deal hardly with, deal hard measure to — rule with a rod of iron, chastise with scorpions — dye with blood — oppress, override — trample under foot — tread under foot, tread upon, trample upon, tread down upon, trample down upon — crush under an iron heel, ride roughshod over — rivet the yoke — hold a tight hand, keep a tight hand — force down the throat — coerce etc. 744 — give no quarter etc. (pitiless) 914.1.

adjective

severe — strict, hard, harsh, dour, rigid, stiff, stern, rigorous, uncompromising, exacting, exigent, exigeant^†, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, austere, hard-headed, hard-nosed, hard-shell [U.S.], relentless, Spartan, Draconian, stringent, strait-laced, searching, unsparing, iron-handed, peremptory, absolute, positive, arbitrary, imperative — coercive etc. 744 — tyrannical, extortionate, grinding, withering, oppressive, inquisitorial — inclement etc. (ruthless) 914.1; cruel etc. (malevolent) 907 — haughty, arrogant etc. 885 — precisian^†.

adverb

severely etc. adj. — with a high hand, with a strong hand, with a tight hand, with a heavy hand.
at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet.

phrase

Delirant reges plectuntur Achivi [Lat.] — manu forti [Lat.] — ogni debole ha sempre il suo tiranno [It].

The content on this page comes straight from Project Gutenberg Etext of Roget's Thesaurus No. Two, which consists of the acclaimed work by Peter Mark Roget augmented with more recent material. Some changes were made to the formatting for improved readability.

Bold numbers signify related Roget categories. A dagger symbol (†) indicates archaic words and expressions no longer in common use.

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