sledgehammer 1 of 3

noun

Definition of sledgehammernext
as in mallet
a large, heavy hammer with a long handle broke up the concrete using a sledgehammer

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sledgehammer

2 of 3

adjective

as in heavy-handed

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Dissimilar Words

sledgehammer

3 of 3

verb

as in to cane

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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
Officials said the clerk inside the business said five people wearing masks and gloves used sledgehammers and crowbars to break into six gaming machines. — Elyssa Kaufman, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2026 Zeller sets this up ably by incorporating the sledgehammer blows of the builder hired by Toby into percussive passages of Volker Bertelmann’s ominous score. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026
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
Under cover of darkness, a squad of SEALs enters a two-story apartment building, slips upstairs, and sledgehammers its way through a wall, awakening a family on the other side. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2025 The move means the 7-foot Kiwi will be under contract for the next three seasons and signals that at a time when the game is becoming increasingly perimeter-oriented, the Pelicans will try to sledgehammer their way to wins. — Christian Clark, NOLA.com, 24 Nov. 2020 See All Example Sentences for sledgehammer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sledgehammer
  1. mallet
  2. heavy-handed
  3. cane
  4. hammer
  5. jackbooted
  6. stab
  7. baton
  8. oppressive
Noun
  • The butt of the Axvant is designed to double as a mallet, mostly for knocking in tent stakes and taking care of other basic, non-precision hammering.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Perez was assaulted by two men who used a bicycle and a mallet as weapons.
    — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of mallet
Adjective
  • The power Whitney expressed was more abstract than Beyoncé’s heavy-handed, and still astonishing, Super Bowl halftime performance in 2016, in which the artist stormed the field with a battalion of women dressed as Black Panthers.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Paris — After a heavy-handed response to the student protests sweeping France, the government has changed tack.
    — Joseph Ataman, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of heavy-handed
Verb
  • Singapore’s education minister has confirmed that teachers are allowed to use caning to discipline unruly students in certain cases.
    — Jack Guy, CNN Money, 6 May 2026
  • In 1994, American teenager Michael Fay was caned at a Singaporean prison for vandalism, a day after his sentence was reduced from six lashes to four in response to an appeal by President Bill Clinton.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 5 May 2026
Definition of cane
Noun
  • Prosecutors say Widdecombe was eating lunch in her Devon home July 8, when Kerry allegedly walked through the front door, beat her 21 times in the head with a hammer, took her wallet and was gone in an attack that lasted only two minutes.
    — Tyler Speicher, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • She had been struck 21 times with a hammer, a court previously heard.
    — Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of hammer
Adjective
  • Karol let those lines here serve as her brief indictment of the present, jackbooted environment around immigration and repression in the United States.
    — Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2026
  • 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
Verb
  • The North Texas woman arrested Tuesday after allegedly stabbing and injuring her husband and two young children at their Northlake home had been struggling with postpartum depression, according to court documents.
    — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Tate and four others were stabbed and shot during the attacks.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of stab
Noun
  • In the deciding Game 4, Vesia took the baton from Glasnow with two outs and two runners on in the fifth, got the inning’s final out on one pitch and came back out in the sixth.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026
  • In Paris, tear gas filled the air, and trash cans, school desks and chairs were set alight as riot police with shields and batons clashed with some demonstrators.
    — Melissa Bell, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of baton
Adjective
  • The combination was as oppressive as the thermometer reading.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Central Connecticut State University President Zulma Toro resigned Wednesday following an investigation into a complaint alleging the workplace culture under her leadership was oppressive, bullying and intimidating.
    — Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of oppressive

Browse Nearby Words

sledged
sledgehammer
sledgehammered
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Cite this Entry

“Sledgehammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammer. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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