ironfisted

Definition of ironfistednext

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ironfisted
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
  • Likethumb_up Replyreply Linklink Copy Reportflag eraley 22 minutes ago Trump’s America and his jackbooted thugs.
    Marwa Eltagouri, Washington Post, 28 May 2018
Adjective
  • Drawing from the histories of women detained for their political beliefs, the work explores how care, resistance and survival persist even under the most oppressive conditions.
    Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 1 Feb. 2026
  • Director Tony Williams masterfully curates a mood of oppressive dread from the opening minutes through the bloody climax and explosive final frames, making this one of the very best Australian horror films of all time.
    Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Residents of Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, which have each faced heavy-handed federal crackdowns, are showing us how this is done.
    Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026
  • So, if immigration isn’t the problem, what chance does ICE’s heavy-handed approach have to improve public safety?
    Aubrey Jackson Soller, Baltimore Sun, 3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
  • That way, your ideas can land without sounding stern.
    Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 10 Feb. 2026
  • Carro ended the hearing with a stern directive to defense lawyers, who repeatedly pushed back on the June 8 trial date.
    Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 6 Feb. 2026
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
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
Adjective
  • When his condition escalated to severe pneumonia and sepsis, his heart stopped and the team performed CPR, according to a press release on the case.
    Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026
  • And while there are signs the selling has become overdone, the ructions in the industry caused by artificial intelligence applications are severe enough that pricing a bottom has become a fraught exercise.
    Bernard Goyder, Fortune, 5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
  • County public health officials painted a grim picture of what life looks like for the poorest and sickest residents if new money doesn’t flow into the system.
    Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Reddit boards hosting discussions of the case offer grim evidence of the concession.
    Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Ironfisted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ironfisted. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.

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