heavy–handed

1 given to exacting standards of discipline and self-restraint the gym teacher is heavy-handed with the boys and much more lenient with the girls Synonyms austere, authoritarian, flinty, hard, harsh, heavy-handed, ramrod, rigid, rigorous, stern, strict, toughRelated Words demanding, exacting; uncharitable, unforgiving; adamant, adamantine, callous, hardened, hard-hearted, hard-line, immovable, implacable, inflexible, merciless, ossified, pitiless, relentless, rock-ribbed, stiff, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unsparing, unyielding; dour, gruff; ascetic (also ascetical), monastic, monkish; browbeating, bullying; determined, firm, resolved, single-minded, steadfast, unflinching; dogged, intractable, obstinate, relentlessNear Antonyms easy, easygoing, laid-back, undemanding; charitable, kind, merciful, mild, patient, soft, softhearted; accepting, compromising, yielding; responsive, willing; acquiescent, agreeable, amenable, complaisant, compliant, flexible, pliable, pliantAntonyms clement, forbearing, gentle, indulgent, lax, lenient, tolerant

2 lacking or showing a lack of nimbleness in using one's hands felt heavy-handed and awkward when she held the newborn infant Synonyms awkward, butterfingered, cack-handed [British], graceless, ham-fisted, ham-handed, handless, heavy-handed, left-handed, maladroit, unhandyRelated Words uncoordinated; bunglesome, bungling, gauche, inept, inexpert, unskilled, unskillfulNear Antonyms expert, masterly, skilled, skillful; coordinatedAntonyms deft, dexterous (also dextrous), handy, sure-handed