Etymologically
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drastic

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈdɹæs.tɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δραστικός (drastikós, “active, effective, efficacious”),[2][3][4][5][6] from δραστός (drastós, “done”), the verbal adjective of δράω (dráō, “to do, act”).[2][5][6][7] Barnhart and Etymonline derive it instead from a form meaning "(a thing) to be done",[4][3] and Wiktionary from δρᾶσις (drâsis, “strength, efficacy”).[1] The Greek verb, of uncertain origin, is also the source of drama.[3][8][6] The OED compares French drastique, recorded from 1741.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of medicines, acting with force, especially on the bowels: before 1691, in the writings of Robert Boyle.[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a medical term, and a drastic was a strong purgative from 1783.[2][4] The general sense, extreme, severe or violent in effect, is first recorded in 1808, in Jeremy Bentham;[4][2][3] Barnhart suggests that it was prompted by the noun or borrowed from the same sense of French drastique.[4] In the medical sense it is now used chiefly of purgatives.[7]

Timeline

  • before 1691 – of medicines, acting with force (Boyle).[2][4]
  • 1741 – the French word drastique recorded.[2]
  • 1783 – noun, a strong purgative.[2][4]
  • 1808 – extreme, severe, violent in effect (Bentham).[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Extreme, forceful or severe in effect; radical: The council took drastic steps to cut spending.[9][7][10]
  2. Of a medicine, acting quickly and violently, especially as a purgative.[7][2][10]

Noun

  1. A powerful medicine, especially a strong purgative.[7][2]

Word family

  • drastically

Usage notes

Wiktionary notes that the word usually has a negative tone, and that for positive or neutral changes dramatic is often preferred.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press