Procrustean

[ proh-kruhs-tee-uhn ]
See synonyms for Procrustean on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. pertaining to or suggestive of Procrustes.

  2. (often lowercase) tending to produce conformity by violent or arbitrary means.

Origin of Procrustean

1
First recorded in 1640–50; Procruste(s) + -an

Words Nearby Procrustean

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Procrustean in a sentence

  • Then by a Procrustean process he packs the complex and irregular facts into his scheme.

    Domesday Book and Beyond | Frederic William Maitland
  • We then proceed to apply the Procrustean bed principle with the very acme of sang froid.

    The Vitalized School | Francis B. Pearson
  • Young limbs will not always adjust themselves to the Procrustean bed.

    Doctor Luttrell's First Patient | Rosa Nouchette Carey
  • It is an error to suppose that beauty must be racked on a Procrustean bed of formula.

    The Gate of Appreciation | Carleton Noyes
  • To him the judicial office was a Procrustean one of fitting each case to the legal bed, if necessary by a surgical operation.

British Dictionary definitions for Procrustean

Procrustean

/ (prəʊˈkrʌstɪən) /


adjective
  1. tending or designed to produce conformity by violent or ruthless methods

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012