DRACONIC Synonyms: 67 Similar and Opposite Words

draconic

adjective

Definition of draconic

as in draconian

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of draconic In Fire & Blood, this battle is described as the only time during the Dance of Dragons when the dragons truly danced, which means TV audiences should expect some incredible draconic combat. — James Grebey, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026 The Shadow Bringer was sleeping in a canopied bed, cloaked in shadow, obsidian armor and his typical draconic mask with its caged jaw. — Lizz Schumer, People.com, 28 July 2025 The complications include a tourbillon, perpetual calendar, minute repeater, and a complex celestial and astronomical system that indicates three lunar month displays that include the synodic, draconic, and anomalistic cycles. — Sophie Furley, Robb Report, 5 Nov. 2024 In the popular roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons, a five-headed, draconic deity bears the goddess’ name. — Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 July 2024

Recent Examples of Synonyms for draconic

Adjective

These young people have defied prohibitions on protest, breached draconian security clampdowns, and endured detentions to relentlessly question the government’s authority.

— Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2026
Trump’s draconian immigration measures have made recent deportees and asylum seekers alike easy targets for extortion, kidnapping, and occasionally recruitment by certain cartels along the US-Mexico border.

— Daniel Peña, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of draconian

Adjective

Resident's death under investigation The Middlesex County District Attorney's office, as well as the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, are examining whether the oppressive heat played any role in the resident's death.

— Kristina Rex, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2026
The combination was as oppressive as the thermometer reading.

— Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of oppressive

Adjective

The chaos in Ithaca may be political and ethical—a violation of custom—but stretches of the poem are barbarous and wild, beyond civilized life altogether.

— David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026
Seeking to eliminate Berber forces in the barren mountains of northern Morocco, seven soldiers obediently follow their fanatical sergeant (Víctor Clavijo) into barbarous depths of depravity.

— Ed Meza, Variety, 16 May 2026

Definition of barbarous

Adjective

That quickly comes in handy when Clancy, a sadistic guard, tells the inmates they’re being shipped to the infamous sanitarium Saint Mabyn’s.

— Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
Mungiu may have a less sadistic streak and a more active camera, but the two filmmakers share a particular commitment to narrative indeterminacy, devising intricate yet incomplete crime-story plots that function broadly as sociopolitical allegories.

— Justin Chang, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of sadistic

Adjective

And now those still left in the battered city along Ukraine's southeastern front face death from hunger or disease as another harsh winter looms, with no agreement in sight for even a humanitarian evacuation.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
Despite low winds and little rain, harsh surf continues to wreak havoc along Southern California's coastal communities.

— Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC news, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of harsh

Adjective

In the face of an almost incomprehensibly inhuman threat, being the ultimate human is the only answer, from our first breath to our last.

— Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 7 Oct. 2026
Between Two Fires is a zippy historical monster story, where a bandit ex-knight and a young girl beset by visions have to contend with plague and inhuman monsters.

— James Folta, Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of inhuman

Adjective

In response to legislation to end the cruelty once and for all, the Daily News once again trotted out its old and tired defense of this cruel, deadly and outdated industry.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
Policing cringe is the cruelest métier of the internet—the origin of harassment campaigns and platforming of contempt.

— Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of cruel

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draconian

draconic

draft

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“Draconic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/draconic. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of draconic

adjective

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