sledgehammer 1 of 3

sledgehammer

2 of 3

adjective

sledgehammer

3 of 3

verb

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
Noun
The decision took a sledgehammer to Smith’s federal election subversion indictment against Trump and laid out an uncertain path for his other criminal cases. Ella Lee, The Hill, 27 Dec. 2024 Footage supplied by the national police agency show the Grinch, dressed in Santa's jacket, running down a street in San Bartolo, southern Lima, with a sledgehammer slung over his shoulder. Freddie Clayton, NBC News, 24 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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
Verb
Perhaps the most brazen took place in 1958, when two men sledgehammered the Fifth Avenue display windows in the middle of the night. James Barron, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2020 Should have done steel ball on window, *then* sledgehammer the door. Adam Lashinsky, Fortune, 25 Nov. 2019 See all Example Sentences for sledgehammer 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sledgehammer
Noun
  • Their specialties include 45-piece discovery boxes, hot chocolate mix, and the unique Chocolate Box - a massive block of chocolate with wooden mallets.
    Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
  • This also prevents your meat mallet from getting dirty as well.
    Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 2 Oct. 2024
Adjective
  • Two weeks ago, Republican leaders, who have long bristled at DeSantis’ heavy-handed approach, defied his request for a special session to address immigration.
    Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 12 Feb. 2025
  • Some found his commentary on the Black American experience as poignant, while others saw it as heavy-handed.
    Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • Furnishings vary from room to room, featuring different styles of settees, including some made from caning and wicker materials.
    Lori Weisberg, The Mercury News, 7 Feb. 2025
  • The abolitionist Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner was caned nearly to death on the floor of the Senate in 1856.
    Kori Schake, Foreign Affairs, 16 Apr. 2019
Noun
  • The basilica has put in new protective glass in front of Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture, which was attacked with a hammer in 1972, while a similar incident of a man throwing candelabra off the main altar occurred in 2019.
    Christopher Lamb, CNN, 8 Feb. 2025
  • Witnesses said several thousand protesters, some armed with sticks, hammers and other tools, gathered around the historic house and independence monument, while others brought a crane and excavator to demolish the building.
    Reuters, NBC News, 6 Feb. 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
  • Jevon Tyrese Fletcher, 26, is accused of stabbing the victims multiple times inside an apartment in the 400 block of Meloy Road Saturday night, NBC Connecticut reported.
    Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2025
  • An off-duty Cal Fire captain was found fatally stabbed inside her Ramona home Monday evening, and sheriff’s detectives are investigating the homicide as a possible domestic violence case, officials said.
    Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • The job has been getting tougher Aaron Donald redefined the defensive tackle position with an eight-time All-Pro career over 10 seasons, and Jones has picked up the baton for the interior pass rushers since Donald retired.
    Dave Campbell, Twin Cities, 3 Feb. 2025
  • Kerrigan, then 24, got severely bruised on her leg after being hit with a baton one day before a major skating competition.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 30 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • But the show pulls back just enough on the oppressive horror vibes of Season Two without losing a perpetual sense of unease from those scenes.
    Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 14 Feb. 2025
  • Currently, asylum seekers who committed crimes seen as political in nature—i.e. toward an oppressive regime—could be granted asylum, as could those guilty of misdemeanors.
    Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 14 Feb. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near sledgehammer

Cite this Entry

“Sledgehammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammer. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.

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