Mawson, C.O.S., ed. (1870–1938). Roget’s International Thesaurus. 1922. Class V. Words Releasing to the Voluntary Powers Division (II) Intersocial Volition Section I. General Intersocial Volition 739. Severity.
NOUN: SEVERITY; strictness, harshness &c. adj.; rigor, stringency, austerity; inclemency (pitilessness ) [See Pitilessness ] arrogance [See Insolence ]; precisianism, formalism.ARBITRARY POWER; absolutism, despotism; dictatorship, autocracy, tyranny, domineering, domination, oppression; assumption, usurpation; inquisition, reign of terror, martial law; iron -heel, - rule, - hand, - sway; tight grasp; brute -force, - strength; coercion [See Compulsion ]; strong -, tight- hand.BUREAUCRACY, red-tapism, pipe-clay, officialism; hard -lines, - measure; tender mercies [ironical ]; sharp practice.TYRANT, disciplinarian, precisian, martinet, stickler, bashaw, despot, the Grand Panjandrum himself, hard master, Draco, oppressor, inquisitor, extortioner, harpy, vulture; Accipitres, Raptores, raptors [obs. ], birds of prey. VERB: BE SEVERE &c. adj. ARROGATE, assume, usurp, take liberties; domineer, bully [See Insolence ]; tyrannize; wrest the law to one’s advantage; inflict, wreak, stretch a point, put on the screw; be hard upon; bear -, lay- a heavy hand on; be down upon [slang ], come down upon [colloq. ]; illtreat; deal hardly with, deal hard measure to; rule with a rod of iron, chastise with scorpions; dye with blood; oppress, override; trample -, tread- -down, - upon, - under foot; crush under an iron heel, ride roughshod over; rivet the yoke; hold -, keep- a tight hand; force down the throat; coerce [See Compulsion ]; give no quarter (pitiless ) [See Pitilessness ] ADJECTIVE: SEVERE; strict, hard, harsh, dour [Scot. ], rigid, stiff, stern, rigorous, uncompromising, exacting, exigent, exigeant [F. ], inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, austere, hard-headed, hard-shell [colloq., U. S. ], relentless, Spartan, Draconian, stringent, strict, prudish, precise, puritanical, strait-laced, searching, unsparing, ironhanded, peremptory, absolute, positive, arbitrary, imperative; coercive [See Compulsion ]; tyrannical, extortionate, grinding, withering, oppressive, inquisitorial; inclement (ruthless ) [See Pitilessness ] cruel (malevolent ) [See Malevolence ]; haughty, arrogant [See Insolence ]; precisian, formal, punctilious. ADVERB: SEVERELY &c. adj.; with a -high, - strong, - tight, - heavy- hand. QUOTATIONS: Quidquid delirant reges plectuntur Achivi.—Horace
Manu forti.
Ogni debole ha sempre il suo tiranno.
The King’s argument was that anything that had a head could be beheaded.—Carroll
