Word.ws English Dictionary

procrustean

/pɹəʊˈkɹʌsti.ən/

procrustean adjective: enforcing strict conformity through disregard of individual differences or special circumstances.

Adjective (1)

procrustean (comparative more procrustean, superlative most procrustean)

  1. Enforcing strict conformity through disregard of individual differences or special circumstances.
    • The object in choosing the political capital is average nearness of approach from the various confines of the State; but commerce submits to no such Procrustean laws in selecting her capitals, and consequently she has placed Detroit on the borders of Michigan, […]1862, Anthony Trollope, chapter IX, in North America. […], volume I, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC
    • The concept of an Age of Nationalism is a bit procrustean.2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 287

Adjective (2) capitalized: Procrustean

Procrustean (comparative more Procrustean, superlative most Procrustean)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of procrustean.
    • We should not see their intellects stunted by Procrustean attempts to teach them all the same accomplishments, to the neglect, most often, of any sound practical training of their faculties.(Can we date this quote?), Charles Kingsley, “Science”, in Scientific Essays and Lectures

Forms of procrustean

comparativemore procrustean
superlativemost procrustean
alternative formProcrustean
comparativemore Procrustean
superlativemost Procrustean

Origin of procrustean

From Procrustes + -an.

Words formed from procrustean

Phrases with procrustean

Questions about procrustean

What does procrustean mean?
Procrustean means enforcing strict conformity through disregard of individual differences or special circumstances.
What part of speech is procrustean?
Procrustean is an adjective.
How do you pronounce procrustean?
Procrustean is pronounced /pɹəʊˈkɹʌsti.ən/ (UK).

Words near procrustean in the dictionary

  1. procreatresses
  2. procreatrix
  3. Procris
  4. Procrus
  5. procrusculum
  6. procrustean
  7. Procrustean assignment
  8. procrustean bed
  9. procrustean beds
  10. procrusteanism
  11. procrusteanize

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: procrustean (page history and authors); Procrustean (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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