slash-and-burn
adjective
1
: characterized or developed by felling and burning trees to clear land especially for temporary agriculture
2
: extremely ruthless and unsparing
slash-and-burn tactics
slash-and-burn criticism
Synonyms
- affectless
- callous
- case-hardened
- cold-blooded
- compassionless
- desensitized
- hard
- hard-boiled
- hard-hearted
- heartless
- indurate
- inhuman
- inhumane
- insensate
- insensitive
- ironhearted
- merciless
- obdurate
- pachydermatous
- pitiless
- remorseless
- ruthless
- soulless
- stony
- stoney
- stonyhearted
- take-no-prisoners
- thick-skinned
- uncharitable
- unfeeling
- unmerciful
- unsparing
- unsympathetic
Examples of slash-and-burn in a Sentence
under his slash-and-burn management ethic, even longtime employees were summarily downsized for the sake of corporate competitiveness
Recent Examples on the Web
The slash-and-burn model that Milei has taken is one that Elon Musk seems to be emulating with the Department of Government Efficiency.
—
Brady Dale, Axios, 18 Feb. 2025
The preschooler spent some of his time in the Oval Office on his father’s shoulders as Trump signed an executive order giving the Tesla boss’ controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) more power to continue its legally suspect slash-and-burn march through the federal beuracracy.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 12 Feb. 2025
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters The slash-and-burn tactics being carried out behind closed doors by a controversial group of staffers have stoked outrage and panic from critics and spurred multiple lawsuits.
—Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 11 Feb. 2025
Now the world’s richest man has brought the same slash-and-burn strategy to the federal government, and some people who experienced Musk’s takeover at Twitter have a warning: Expect chaos, cuts driven by ideology as much as by cost concerns, intimidation and plenty of lawsuits.
—Bernard Condon, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025
The scale and suddenness of this offer is unprecedented in the federal government but typical of slash-and-burn management practices espoused by Trump and his efficiency czar, Elon Musk.
—Christopher Wong Michaelson and Jennifer Tosti-Kharas, TIME, 6 Feb. 2025
The Roberts Court’s slash-and-burn approach to the separation of church and state is unlikely to end any time soon.
—Ian Millhiser, Vox, 28 Jan. 2025
The 2024 holidays were incessantly interrupted by slash-and-burn politics, from the ongoing furor over President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial Cabinet picks to the budget crisis at Chicago’s City Hall and the battle to deep-six the Chicago Public Schools chief.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025
In today’s newsletter, Jon Lee Anderson reports on the slash-and-burn austerity measures in Argentina that have earned admiration from Trump acolytes.
—Hannah Jocelyn, The New Yorker, 3 Dec. 2024
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Brady Dale, Axios, 18 Feb. 2025
The preschooler spent some of his time in the Oval Office on his father’s shoulders as Trump signed an executive order giving the Tesla boss’ controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) more power to continue its legally suspect slash-and-burn march through the federal beuracracy.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 12 Feb. 2025
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters The slash-and-burn tactics being carried out behind closed doors by a controversial group of staffers have stoked outrage and panic from critics and spurred multiple lawsuits.
—Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 11 Feb. 2025
Now the world’s richest man has brought the same slash-and-burn strategy to the federal government, and some people who experienced Musk’s takeover at Twitter have a warning: Expect chaos, cuts driven by ideology as much as by cost concerns, intimidation and plenty of lawsuits.
—Bernard Condon, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025
The scale and suddenness of this offer is unprecedented in the federal government but typical of slash-and-burn management practices espoused by Trump and his efficiency czar, Elon Musk.
—Christopher Wong Michaelson and Jennifer Tosti-Kharas, TIME, 6 Feb. 2025
The Roberts Court’s slash-and-burn approach to the separation of church and state is unlikely to end any time soon.
—Ian Millhiser, Vox, 28 Jan. 2025
The 2024 holidays were incessantly interrupted by slash-and-burn politics, from the ongoing furor over President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial Cabinet picks to the budget crisis at Chicago’s City Hall and the battle to deep-six the Chicago Public Schools chief.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025
In today’s newsletter, Jon Lee Anderson reports on the slash-and-burn austerity measures in Argentina that have earned admiration from Trump acolytes.
—Hannah Jocelyn, The New Yorker, 3 Dec. 2024
Dictionary Entries Near slash-and-burn
Cite this Entry
“Slash-and-burn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slash-and-burn. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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