Procrustean
Americanadjective
-
pertaining to or suggestive of Procrustes.
-
(often lowercase) tending to produce conformity by violent or arbitrary means.
adjective
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
“These accounts illuminate how lawyers, as well as authors, must be skillful narrative crafters, pruning and stretching the unruly features of real life to fit the law’s Procrustean parameters.”
From New York Times • Feb. 13, 2020
To be sure, one lesson of European history is that it’s never a good idea to try to force Europe’s diverse peoples into a one-size-fits-all Procrustean bed.
From The Guardian • Jan. 31, 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
She established a feudal and ecclesiastical frame-work for the young nation, and into that Procrustean bed the growth of population and the proportions of society were forced.
From The Conquest of Canada (Vol. 1 of 2) by Warburton, George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
