stringency, austerity; inclemency &c (pitilessness) 914.1; arrogance &c
885; precisianism†.
arbitrary power; absolutism, despotism; dictatorship, autocracy,
tyranny, domineering, oppression; assumption, usurpation; inquisition,
reign of terror, martial law; iron heel, iron rule, iron hand, iron
sway; tight grasp; brute force, brute strength; coercion &c 744; strong
hand, tight hand.
hard lines, hard measure; tender mercies [Iron.]; sharp practice;
pipe-clay, officialism.
tyrant, disciplinarian, precisian†, martinet, stickler, bashaw†,
despot, hard master, Draco, oppressor, inquisitor, extortioner, harpy,
vulture; accipitres†, birds of prey, raptorials†, raptors†.
V. be severe &c adj.. assume, usurp, arrogate, take liberties;
domineer, bully &c 885; tyrannize, inflict, wreak, stretch a point, put
on the screw; be hard upon; bear a heavy hand on, lay a heavy hand on;
be down upon, come down upon; ill treat; deal hardly with, deal hard
measure to; rule with a rod of iron, chastise with scorpions; dye with
blood; oppress, override; trample under foot; tread under foot, tread
upon, trample upon, tread down upon, trample down upon; crush under an
iron heel, ride roughshod over; rivet the yoke; hold a tight hand, keep
a tight hand; force down the throat; coerce &c 744; give no quarter &c
(pitiless) 914.1.
Adj. severe; strict, hard, harsh, dour, rigid, stiff, stern, rigorous,
uncompromising, exacting, exigent, exigeant†, inexorable, inflexible,
obdurate, austere, hard-headed, hard-nosed, hard-shell [U.S.],
relentless, Spartan, Draconian, stringent, strait-laced, searching,
unsparing, iron-handed, peremptory, absolute, positive, arbitrary,
imperative; coercive &c 744; tyrannical, extortionate, grinding,
withering, oppressive, inquisitorial; inclement &c (ruthless) 914.1;
cruel &c (malevolent) 907; haughty, arrogant &c 885; precisian†.
Adv. severely &c adj.; with a high hand, with a strong hand, with a
tight hand, with a heavy hand.
at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet.
Phr. Delirant reges plectuntur Achivi [Lat.]; manu forti [Lat.]; ogni
debole ha sempre il suo tiranno [It].