as in mallet
a large, heavy hammer with a long handle
broke up the concrete using a sledgehammer
Related Words
Relevance
as in heavy-handed
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
as in to cane
Related Words
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
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
Christian Clark, NOLA.com, 24 Nov. 2020
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
Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 7 Aug. 2025
The suspects used a sledgehammer to break a window.
—Craig Shoup, Murfreesboro Daily News Journal, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sledgehammer
Noun
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
Adjective
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
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
Verb
The men bashed the plane’s windows with a sledgehammer and sprayed the wreckage with a hose and fire extinguisher while multiple other neighbors called for help.
—Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 7 Aug. 2025
The suspects used a sledgehammer to break a window.
—Craig Shoup, Murfreesboro Daily News Journal, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sledgehammer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sledgehammer
Noun
-
This also prevents your meat mallet from getting dirty as well.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
25 Aug. 2025
-
Security footage also captured him near a drainage ditch where police found a rubber mallet and cell phone.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
19 July 2025
Adjective
-
Trump's public approval rating on immigration fell to 43% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in August from a high of 50% in March as Americans took an increasingly dim view of his heavy-handed tactics against migrants.—
Ted Hesson,
USA Today,
2 Sep. 2025
-
The President, for the most part, has urged calm, but law enforcement officials have responded with heavy-handed crackdowns on protesters, fueling even more backlash.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
1 Sep. 2025
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
Noun
-
During the argument, Martin grabbed a hammer from Lawson that Lawson had been using to repair a patio door and raised it above his head in a striking motion, Lawson said.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Slaves, serfs, peasants, and wage workers mostly understood that what was being struck was a hammer blow on their behalf.—
Jack Sheehan
September 4,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
Likethumb_up Replyreply Linklink Copy Reportflag eraley 22 minutes ago Trump’s America and his jackbooted thugs.—
Marwa Eltagouri,
Washington Post,
28 May 2018
Verb
-
But her athletic triumph was tragically dampened by years of abuse at the hands of her husband and coach Jim Martin, who in 2010 attempted to murder her, stabbing her many times, slicing the flesh off the bone from her leg, and shooting her.—
Esther Zuckerman,
Time,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Harrison stabs Prater with the needle and knocks the billionaire out.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Video footage verified by CNN shows the moment an officer draws his baton amid a struggle with one demonstrator as other officers tussle with protesters on the ground.—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
6 Sep. 2025
-
This is not just the violence of batons or bullets, but the quieter devastation inflicted by law through denial, deferral or bureaucratic neglect.—
Hansel Alejandro Aguilar,
Mercury News,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Related Stories Farrelly thinks that kind of oppressive political correctness is fading and that audiences are eager to see movies that eviscerate good taste in order to land a joke again.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Pitted against the unforgettably evil Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), a sadist who drugs and abuses the unlucky patients in her care, McMurphy’s stand against the oppressive powers that be is tragic and poignant and spoke to the spirit of a time in which so many felt misunderstood.—
Christina Newland,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sledgehammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammer. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share