ironfisted

adjective

Definition of ironfistednext
as in jackbooted

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ironfisted
  1. jackbooted
  2. oppressive
  3. heavy-handed
  4. stern
  5. sledgehammer
  6. ungentle
  7. severe
  8. grim
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
Definition of jackbooted
Adjective
  • By that logic, the Union is the oppressive force, and her movement is the real resistance.
    Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024
  • Debuting in 2014, Watch Dogs is an action-adventure game immersing players in the world of skilled hackers who use technology to combat oppressive forces controlling major cities across the world.
    Matt Grobar, Deadline, 13 Sep. 2024
Definition of oppressive
Adjective
  • The keyboard’s trademark shallow key travel remains the same, which is a demerit for heavy-handed typists like myself but should delight light-touch Mac users who prefer little to no resistance when typing.
    PCMAG, PCMAG, 7 Nov. 2024
  • The department has been criticized for its heavy-handed response to those celebrations, with officers being accused of firing less-lethal rounds indiscriminately into crowds, injuring protesters and costing the city millions in settlement payouts.
    Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2024
Definition of heavy-handed
Adjective
  • And in Pennsylvania the Philadelphia district attorney issued a stern warning.
    Luke Barr, ABC News, 5 Nov. 2024
  • Where once there was stern, pensive faces, now there were smiles, heads tilted back.
    Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 4 Nov. 2024
Definition of stern
Adjective
  • If coffee is a sledgehammer blow to the brain — admittedly sometimes useful — yaupon was more like a gentle neural stroking.
    Gabriel Popkin, Washington Post, 15 Aug. 2022
  • 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
Definition of sledgehammer
Adjective
  • But going back to trying to be gentle in ungentle times.
    Stephanie Stradley, Houston Chronicle, 25 Sep. 2020
  • Notes From an Apocalypse is a gentle argument for coming to terms with the precarity of life, published in a moment where people are facing its fragility in an immediate and ungentle context.
    Kate Knibbs, Wired, 16 Apr. 2020
Definition of ungentle
Adjective
  • Hurricane Oscar made landfall in far eastern Cuba around the same time as the blackout, throwing a one-two punch that has sapped precious resources in a country suffering from severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine.
    Reuters, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2024
  • Bill undergoes a moral crisis when his path crosses with a wretched head nun (Emily Watson) at a convent that’s part of the notorious Magdalene Laundries — a place of severe abuse of women.
    Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
Definition of severe
Adjective
  • Nevertheless, many in Ukraine have displayed a determined — if perhaps grim — realpolitik at the man holding the purse strings of their military rearguard action.
    Alexander Smith, NBC News, 6 Nov. 2024
  • Things are looking grim until an agent for the Time Variance Authority named Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen) asks Deadpool to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe and help safeguard the multiverse.
    John Tufts, The Courier-Journal, 4 Nov. 2024
Definition of grim
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near ironfisted

ironed out

ironfisted

ironhanded

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Ironfisted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ironfisted. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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