as in mallet
a large, heavy hammer with a long handle
broke up the concrete using a sledgehammer
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as in heavy-handed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to cane
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sledgehammer
Arick Wierson, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Apr. 2025
Related article Trump’s massive tariffs shake markets, spark recession fears
A lot of analysts were shocked by that sledgehammer approach.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 4 Apr. 2025
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
Megan Cassidy, SFChronicle.com, 31 Mar. 2020
Perhaps the most brazen took place in 1958, when two men sledgehammered the Fifth Avenue display windows in the middle of the night.
—James Barron, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2020
See All Example Sentences for sledgehammer
Noun
At this point, the other agent picks up a sledgehammer and starts smashing his way into the back windshield unprovoked.
—Arick Wierson, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Apr. 2025
Related article Trump’s massive tariffs shake markets, spark recession fears
A lot of analysts were shocked by that sledgehammer approach.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 4 Apr. 2025
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
The suit stemmed from a May 10, 2019, incident in which police sledgehammered the front gate of his Outer Richmond home, held him in handcuffs for hours and seized his phone, computers and other equipment.
—Megan Cassidy, SFChronicle.com, 31 Mar. 2020
Perhaps the most brazen took place in 1958, when two men sledgehammered the Fifth Avenue display windows in the middle of the night.
—James Barron, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2020
See All Example Sentences for sledgehammer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sledgehammer
Noun
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Spectators crowded the sidelines, cheering intensely for their team with each thwack of the croquet mallet.—
Tyrone Turner,
NPR,
12 Apr. 2025
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Use It To Help Flatten Chicken Breasts Before pounding any meat to create cutlets, use wax paper in between it and your mallet to help avoid any unwanted stickiness and keep it in place.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
6 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
This is the comforter for the heavy-handed environmentalist.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
9 May 2025
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Technology The Big Story Lawmakers push tech leaders on AI, energy Leaders from Silicon Valley were met Thursday with a new tone from Congress, where Republican lawmakers sang their tune of tech innovation over heavy-handed regulations.—
Julia Shapero,
The Hill,
8 May 2025
Verb
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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
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Rattan appears in just the stool and card table, while complementary materials like raffia, caning, and jute help anchor the room with a neutral foundation.—
Monika Biegler Eyers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 Mar. 2025
Noun
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During the exercises, a half-naked soldier was seen smashing a stone placed on a fellow soldier's back with a hammer.—
Ryan Chan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 May 2025
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Police said that John had been poisoned with prescription medication and Lois had been struck with a hammer and fatally stabbed in June 2019.—
Lesley Cosme Torres,
People.com,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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Cooper was obsessed with the New World Order and the actions of jackbooted government enforcers against the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, and white separatist Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.—
Andrew Stuttaford,
WSJ,
19 Sep. 2018
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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
Verb
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Rapper Tory Lanez, who is serving jail time, was hospitalized after another inmate stabbed him.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2025
-
Life outside the courtroom, however, is a bit more complicated, with Nash-Betts weeping in a hospital gown and Kardashian stabbing herself with a needle in a bathroom stall.—
Emlyn Travis Published,
EW.com,
13 May 2025
Noun
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Five officers, who are also Black, caught up with him and punched, kicked and hit him with a police baton while trying to handcuff him.—
Jade Walker,
CNN Money,
8 May 2025
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Mills acknowledged that the officers were afraid and exhausted, but said some of the methods used on Nichols complied with police department policies, including using wrist locks and hitting with a baton.—
Adrian Sainz,
Los Angeles Times,
7 May 2025
Adjective
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That this sincere notion dovetails with an itch to vacate her dour, oppressive home only adds to her determination.—
Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Apr. 2025
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To be sure, Florida had its attractions, one of which was the sunny weather, although air conditioning was still rare at the time, and the heat and humidity could be oppressive for much of the year.—
Greg Daugherty,
Smithsonian Magazine,
15 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sledgehammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammer. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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