swingeing

1 9.9

Very severe and causing serious harm

adjective
/ˈswɪŋɪŋ/

Literature

: drástico

The report contained swingeing recommendations aimed at reforming the outdated system.

Examples

The new policy introduced swingeing cuts to public spending, affecting millions of people.
And then these really swingeing criticisms are made, dating from Jan 1, 2006, and yet halfway through that period you were not making criticisms of anything like that strength.

Blog text (11)
After the scandal, the company faced swingeing penalties that threatened its future.

Antonyms

moderate

310 3.3

Not very large or intense

mild

206 1.0

Something like pain and criticism that is not very strong or serious

How Severe

devastating

307 5.1

swingeing

Literature

1 9.9

severe

577 3.5

serious

∞ 2.0

moderate

310 3.3

mild

206 1.0

Surface Forms

swingeing positive

Morphology

swingeing = swinge (opaque) = swinge + ing

Formed regularly from the verb 'swinge' + -ing, but 'swinge' is rare/archaic so many learners may not recognise the base or may misanalyse it as 'swing' meaning 'move'.

Etymology

The word swingeing comes from the common word swing, which long ago also meant 'to strike' or 'hit'. So, something described as swingeing feels like a heavy blow and is very severe or extreme.