How to Use blunt instrument in a Sentence

blunt instrument

noun
  • But time alone is a blunt instrument.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Urgency should be a scalpel, not a blunt instrument.
    — Jeremy Bradley-Silverio Donato, Forbes.com, 12 Jan. 2026
  • Today’s pick-one ballot is a blunt instrument.
    — Patrick Hanley, Chicago Tribune, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Instead, data show it was used as a blunt instrument for headcount reduction.
    — Katica Roy, Fortune, 31 Dec. 2025
  • Courts can police the most egregious abuses, but litigation is a blunt instrument.
    — Mark Desjardine, Fortune, 8 Jan. 2026
  • For starters, an export control is an especially blunt instrument.
    — Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026
  • But modern braces are designed to move teeth more effectively and with as little pain as possible, and the bandeau was much more of a blunt instrument.
    — Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 3 June 2026
  • For decades, chemotherapy was the blunt instrument of breast cancer care—effective, but often at the expense of a patient’s overall well-being.
    — Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The Fed’s main tool — its key interest rates, which influences borrowing costs across the economy — is widely known as a blunt instrument.
    — Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 27 Dec. 2025
  • But Shaw’s ability to be both the blunt instrument of City’s execution and so often their connective tissue is second to none.
    — Megan Feringa, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2026
  • Leadership teams will determine whether AI becomes a blunt instrument for cost-cutting or a force multiplier for better work.
    — John Akkara, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • That would only win half the battle, since everyone is affected by addictive design patterns, and the DFA represents a surgical approach that complements the blunt instrument of blanket bans.
    — Parmy Olson, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2026
  • That would only win half the battle, since everyone is affected by addictive design patterns, and the DFA represents a surgical approach that complements the blunt instrument of blanket bans.
    — Parmy Olson, Twin Cities, 26 Apr. 2026
  • The American Journal of Managed Care reported that the initiative is expected to face legal challenges and could prove difficult to implement, with industry analysts warning that the plan risks acting as a blunt instrument rather than a workable solution.
    — Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Where other, more conventional pest control companies still employ general, broad-spectrum spraying as a blunt instrument, Axiom relies on precision, science, and innovation to target its efforts directly at the sources of pest infestations, while remaining conscious of the wider environment.
    — Malana Vantyler, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
  • This one looks quirkier than Josh’s more blunt instrument (no pun intended, Emily), but Chalamet has scored at the December box office two years in a row now (Wonka in 2023, A Complete Unknown last year).
    — Joe Reid, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blunt instrument.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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