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
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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
Calista Oetama, Sacbee.com, 21 June 2025
Michelle has a chip on her shoulder and takes more of a dogged, sledgehammer approach.
—Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 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
If the sledgehammer effect were true, the population of butterflies would spike in the fall — when migratory monarchs travel to the coast — and decline in the summer, suggesting that urban gardens actually trapped the migratory monarchs.
—Calista Oetama, Sacbee.com, 21 June 2025
Michelle has a chip on her shoulder and takes more of a dogged, sledgehammer approach.
—Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for sledgehammer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sledgehammer
Noun
-
To prove Joseph has disappeared, Elijah then hits the lantern with a mallet (begging the question of what school administrator okayed this in the first place).—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
29 May 2025
-
Crush candies by hitting firmly with a meat mallet or small heavy skillet.—
Ann Taylor Pittman,
Southern Living,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Buried under heavy-handed shots of children awaiting Superman's salvation, scientifically opaque explanations of a pocket universe, and an ensemble of characters large enough to populate a Kansas small town, there are flickers of a good, maybe even great, movie.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
8 July 2025
-
However, in the second season, the directors began getting heavy-handed with their notes for her.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
4 July 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
-
To break this invisible paint’s hold, place a thin, flexible putty knife in the gap and lightly tap it with a hammer.—
Kamron Sanders,
Better Homes & Gardens,
12 July 2025
-
If confronted with someone with a hammer, most people would give up their bags.—
Lesley Cosme Torres,
People.com,
10 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
-
At some point, one of Valle's friends allegedly gave him a knife, which was used during the brawl to stab McGrath.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
11 July 2025
-
Wallace was talking about his 4-year-old son, Jordan Wallace, who, according to prosecutors, Tolbert stabbed more than 36 times, killing him on Independence Day morning.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
10 July 2025
Noun
-
Juice takes the baton and continues his journey to hopefully discovering inner-peace.—
Michael Saponara,
Billboard,
11 July 2025
-
Sangay, who took up the baton as the political leader of the exiled government, said that by making the transition to democracy the Dalai Lama wanted to ensure Tibetans can run the movement and the government on their own, even after he is gone.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
3 July 2025
Adjective
-
Since seizing control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the group has implemented a string of oppressive measures against women and girls, even cracking down on the sound of women’s voices in public.—
Catherine Nicholls,
CNN Money,
8 July 2025
-
Others reject the portrayal of federal actions as oppressive, suggesting deployments like those in Los Angeles prioritize national security and immigration enforcement.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sledgehammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammer. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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