Swingeing
/ˈswɪn.dʒɪŋ/noun
Excessively severe or drastic; also, swinging or swaying heavily.
Did you know?The harsh sense of *swingeing* (“severe, drastic”) comes from the idea of a heavy swing or strike, and it was famously used in the phrase “a swingeing blow,” not from any occult source, but from plain old force turned into metaphor.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
swingan
“to whip, beat, strike, or flog”
Middle English
ME
swingen
“to strike or beat heavily; to swing”
16th Century
English
swinging
“swaying or moving with a swinging motion”
18th Century
English
swingeing
“severe, drastic; as if delivered with a heavy swing”
Modern English
English
swingeing
“excessively severe or drastic; also swinging heavily”