sledgehammer 1 of 3

noun

Definition of sledgehammernext
as in mallet
a large, heavy hammer with a long handle broke up the concrete using a sledgehammer

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sledgehammer

2 of 3

adjective

as in heavy-handed

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Dissimilar Words

sledgehammer

3 of 3

verb

as in to cane

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sledgehammer
Noun
Video taken at the scene appeared to show bystanders racing over to the crash to help, including two people who used a sledgehammer and a shovel to break into the cockpit. — Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 18 June 2026 Franco, a 23-year-old from Laredo, frantically swung the sledgehammer through heavy smoke. — ABC News, 18 June 2026
Adjective
And Sundwall said that, in retrospect, state health officials took a sledgehammer approach to mitigating the pandemic, such as school closings in 2020, when the state could have taken a more surgical tack. — Bethany Rodgers, The Salt Lake Tribune, 27 Sep. 2021 The Academy Award winner quickly turned into a sledgehammer pro, getting involved in breaking through walls and ripping out fixtures. — Vanessa Etienne, PEOPLE.com, 9 July 2021
Verb
Under cover of darkness, a squad of SEALs enters a two-story apartment building, slips upstairs, and sledgehammers its way through a wall, awakening a family on the other side. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2025 The move means the 7-foot Kiwi will be under contract for the next three seasons and signals that at a time when the game is becoming increasingly perimeter-oriented, the Pelicans will try to sledgehammer their way to wins. — Christian Clark, NOLA.com, 24 Nov. 2020 See All Example Sentences for sledgehammer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sledgehammer
  1. mallet
  2. heavy-handed
  3. cane
  4. hammer
  5. jackbooted
  6. stab
  7. baton
  8. oppressive
Noun
  • After butterflying the breast, place a piece of plastic wrap or parchment on top and use a meat mallet or small, heavy skillet to pound it to an even thickness.
    — Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart, 21 June 2026
  • Diana held a croquet mallet during a game at Itchenor, West Sussex, as seen in this 1970 portrait.
    — Joyann Jeffrey, PEOPLE, 21 June 2026
Definition of mallet
Adjective
  • Yes, Israel has been much too heavy-handed in its response to Hamas in Gaza.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 28 June 2026
  • Thorazine is a heavy-handed chemical tool sometimes used not to treat an underlying illness, but to sedate an acute behavioral crisis.
    — Ashley Andreou, STAT, 22 June 2026
Definition of heavy-handed
Verb
  • Visuals also showed some people receiving CPR. Uncontrollable crowd Police started caning people at one gate, leading to more chaos, said Mithun Singh, a software engineer among the crowd.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 5 June 2025
  • Both failed to fire, and the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, with a hair-trigger temper, began caning the would-be assassin.
    — Barbara A. Perry, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Apr. 2025
Definition of cane
Noun
  • Of course, there are also nods to the beloved Raimi-era chainsaw with power tools like a brush trimmer and a heavy-duty hammer drill.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026
  • Evening sales achieved a 94 percent sell-through rate by lot and 99 percent by value, and the season’s hammer-price-to-low-estimate index reached 165 percent.
    — Daniel Cassady for ARTnews, Robb Report, 8 July 2026
Definition of hammer
Adjective
  • Karol let those lines here serve as her brief indictment of the present, jackbooted environment around immigration and repression in the United States.
    — Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2026
  • Hungary under his rule is far from a jackbooted dictatorship, but its democracy is diverging markedly from that of many of its partners in the European Union.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2018
Definition of jackbooted
Verb
  • DaSilva is then seen approaching a man sitting on an electrical box and is captured making stabbing motions at the man, who ran away and was later found with fatal stab wounds, police say.
    — Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 17 July 2026
  • Jordan Harbst, 25, was ambushed and stabbed to death early July 6 while riding a scooter home along the Greenbelt, prosecutors said.
    — Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 16 July 2026
Definition of stab
Noun
  • In one case reviewed by The Marshall Project, an incarcerated man reported being pepper-sprayed, choked, beaten with a baton and repeatedly called racial slurs by Kentucky officers who were later convicted.
    — Christie Thompson, NPR, 13 July 2026
  • In 1979, de Halden accepted an invitation to take up the baton of festival head at the Berlin Film Festival, leaving his wife to lead Nyon with his support until 1993.
    — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 7 July 2026
Definition of baton
Adjective
  • Underneath a sky of wildfire smoke and haze, the teams played through four hydration breaks, injury stoppages, oppressive summer heat and a patchy pitch.
    — Meg Linehan, New York Times, 17 July 2026
  • Tenet is a collection of Nolan’s most frustrating habits cranked to 11 — from an oppressive soundscape that eclipses dialogue, to stylish yet flat characters, to a narrative that’s confusingly twisty to the point of contortion.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 16 July 2026
Definition of oppressive

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sledged
sledgehammer
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Cite this Entry

“Sledgehammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammer. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of sledgehammer for Spanish Speakers

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