Procrustean

American  

[proh-kruhs-tee-uhn] / proʊˈkrʌs ti ən /

adjective

1. pertaining to or suggestive of Procrustes.

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

---

Procrustean British  

/ prəʊˈkrʌstɪən /

adjective

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

---

Etymology

Origin of Procrustean

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

Explanation

Anything procrustean forces you to conform to a certain standard, even if it's harmful. A truly procrustean dress code would make everyone wear size seven shoes, no matter how large or small their feet are. A track coach with procrustean expectations might make everyone run long races, not considering the fact that some team members excel at sprinting and long jump. And a tyrannical government may use procrustean tactics to control its citizens and take away their individuality. The word derives from the Greek myth of Procrustes, who forced people to physically fit in a bed by stretching them (or cutting off their legs).

Example Sentences

The wild variety of American life can never be clamped down on the Procrustean bed of a single form of schooling.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

But there was a danger in trying to fit this new, American elite onto the Procrustean bed of every elite that had come before it.

From The Guardian • Mar. 3, 2020

There is grandeur in this new view of life, so why force it into the Procrustean bed of nineteenth-century theorizing?

From Scientific American • Jun. 15, 2019

It’s a modern version of the Procrustean bed, and the people no longer have a say.

From New York Times • Jun. 28, 2016

The would-be critic starts out in life with a sort of Procrustean ideal of measurement, to which everything has to be cut down.

From Sword and crozier, drama in five acts by Hollander, Lee Milton

Related Words

• ruthless