heavy-handed
adjective
heavy-hand·ed
ˈhe-vē-ˈhan-dəd 
1
: showing a lack of skill : clumsy
The effect achieved is so subtle that, in contrast, much twentieth-century paintwork seems crude and heavy-handed.—
Elizabeth Lambert
Elizabeth Lambert2
: oppressive, harsh
a heavy-handed approach to crime
heavy-handedly
adverb
heavy-handedness
noun
Examples of heavy-handed in a Sentence
the new manager's heavy-handed approach soon had employees turning in their letters of resignation
felt heavy-handed and awkward when holding the newborn infant
Recent Examples on the Web
The film makes the resonant if not heavy-handed point that the world, and women, favors taller people, that masculine value is enmeshed with height—an argument that the face of the looksmaxxing movement, Clavicular, extends to other self-mutilation practices that aim to make men more beautiful.
—Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 4 June 2026
The staging could do without the underscoring that becomes heavy-handed in the play’s later stages.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2026
Abelardo de la Espriella, the candidate of the Defensores de la Patria party, has pitched himself as an outsider eager to emulate the heavy-handed tactics used in El Salvador’s war on gangs.
—Raquel Coronell Uribe, NBC news, 1 June 2026
Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s vice chairman and global head of science and natural history, told ARTnews that lower-quality examples often suffer from distortions, poor fossilization, or heavy-handed restoration.
—Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for heavy-handed
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Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 4 June 2026
The staging could do without the underscoring that becomes heavy-handed in the play’s later stages.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2026
Abelardo de la Espriella, the candidate of the Defensores de la Patria party, has pitched himself as an outsider eager to emulate the heavy-handed tactics used in El Salvador’s war on gangs.
—Raquel Coronell Uribe, NBC news, 1 June 2026
Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s vice chairman and global head of science and natural history, told ARTnews that lower-quality examples often suffer from distortions, poor fossilization, or heavy-handed restoration.
—Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for heavy-handed
Cite this Entry
“Heavy-handed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heavy-handed. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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