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
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
as in to cane
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Example Sentences
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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
Javier C. Hernández, New York Times, 17 Mar. 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
CBS News, 13 July 2025
And bringing down this sledgehammer at this moment was emphasized by all of the European allies who were at the meeting that Senator Graham and I attended in Europe.
—CBS News, 13 July 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
While Beijing’s sledgehammer approach — seen by many as an extreme experiment unprecedented in size and scope — worked to quickly lower the number of infections, the price in human trauma and economic loss was severe.
—Javier C. Hernández, New York Times, 17 Mar. 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
This is truly a sledgehammer available to President Trump to end this war.
—CBS News, 13 July 2025
And bringing down this sledgehammer at this moment was emphasized by all of the European allies who were at the meeting that Senator Graham and I attended in Europe.
—CBS News, 13 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sledgehammer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sledgehammer
Noun
-
Whirring drills, cranking wrenches and the pounding of rubber mallets give everything a productive, almost musical soundtrack.—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 July 2025
-
This also prevents your meat mallet from getting dirty as well.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
6 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Although the riots swiftly died down after the initial spasm of outrage, many on the British right criticized the government’s response as heavy-handed, designed to throttle conservative views.—
Christian Edwards,
CNN Money,
13 Aug. 2025
-
Conversely, failure to address pricing inequities will keep U.S. consumers shouldering disproportionate costs, fueling political pressure for heavy-handed solutions.—
Rita Numerof,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 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
-
According to police, on the day of the attack, Robert Babin got into a heated argument with his mother and repeatedly hit her with a hammer, KRIV reported.—
Mitchell Willetts,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
31 July 2025
-
But there is no man with a hammer; the happy man lives at his ease, and trivial daily cares faintly agitate him like the wind in the aspen-tree — and all goes well.—
Philip Metres
July 30,
Literary Hub,
30 July 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
-
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
-
The Brinks were stabbed to death while hiking with their two daughters on a trail at Devil's Den, a state park near West Fork, on July 26, according to State Police.—
NWA Democrat-Gazette,
Arkansas Online,
5 Aug. 2025
-
Someone Almost Killed Thing Before the identities of the Hyde and its master were revealed, someone stabbed Thing, the detached hand that is the Addams family’s companion, in the back and left him hanging in Wednesday’s room.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Then, sometime after midnight on July 18, guards began banging their batons on the bars of the men’s cells.—
Perla Trevizo,
ProPublica,
30 July 2025
-
The baton has officially been passed on to 30-year-old Andrew Kuski, who became the new Dealer Principal of the storied dealership in April 2025, ushering in a bold new era for the Chapman Chevrolet Buick GMC legacy.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA Today,
29 July 2025
Adjective
-
What was mostly missing was the occasional cool front that pushes out the most oppressive heat and humidity.—
Staff And Wire Reports,
Boston Herald,
10 Aug. 2025
-
Philadelphia had 29 days, Washington had 27 days and Baltimore had 24 days where the highest dew point simmered to at least 75 degrees, which even the the weather service office in Tampa calls oppressive, according to weather service data.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
10 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sledgehammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammer. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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