drastic

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
“
Speaking at the conclusion of the G20 economic summit this week, President Obama spoke of what he called the drastic decline in U.S. exports over the last several months.

View all »
Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Severe or radical in nature; extreme: the drastic measure of amputating the entire leg; drastic social change brought about by the French Revolution.
  2. adjective Taking effect violently or rapidly: a drastic emetic.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • Doc gradually worked his fingers around to the young man's neck, and Browder, apparently realizing something drastic was about to happen to him, struggled furiously. —  106 - Peril In The North
  • As I stated to both Chief LaCroix and Chief Palmer on Thursday night, my intent was not to attack, but rather to prepare both departments for a drastic decline in funding dictated by economic reality. —  Local Headlines - NewsChannel 8
  • Some of these may have included meetings, dinner or times of urgency such as drastic weather changes.
  • In rejecting the spending plan in a 3-4 vote, trustees cited the continued uncertainty over state funding as well as the drastic nature of the proposed cuts. —  The Orange County Register - Homepage
  • For decisions no less drastic, and for no less a reason than self-protection against the vanity of global conglomerates, the revolutionary Castro government took a series of similar measures in 1959, aimed at promoting Cuban self-reliance and ousting American and international ownership of Cuban industry. —  Elections - fresh news by plazoo.com
More examples »
 

Tags

drastic hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 91 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Greek drastikos, active, from drastos, to be done, from drān, to do.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French drastique = Spanish drástico = Portuguese Italian drastico (cf. German drastisch = Danish Swedish drastisk), from Greek δραστικός, active, efficacious, from δρᾶν, act, effect, do: see drama.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈdræstɪk/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word exactly 42 times a year.

Recently looked up

declaratory · rapt · glistening · WERFEL · distress

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Der dicke Dachdecker deckte dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker dir dein Dach deckte. · weitläufig · und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, so leben sie noch heute · redescheu · selbstverständlich