as in mallet
a large, heavy hammer with a long handle
broke up the concrete using a sledgehammer
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Relevance
as in heavy-handed
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
as in to cane
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sledgehammer
Brian Melley,
Los Angeles Times,
15 June 2026
Demonstrators wearing masks tore bricks from the walls outside homes and smashed sidewalks with sledgehammers to toss at riot police.
—
CBS News,
11 June 2026
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
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
Noun
The group clashed with security guards and law enforcement, and a police sergeant suffered a fractured spine after being struck with a sledgehammer.
—
Brian Melley,
Los Angeles Times,
15 June 2026
Demonstrators wearing masks tore bricks from the walls outside homes and smashed sidewalks with sledgehammers to toss at riot police.
—
CBS News,
11 June 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
Noun
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After butterflying the breast, place a piece of plastic wrap or parchment on top and use a meat mallet or small, heavy skillet to pound it to an even thickness.
-
Diana held a croquet mallet during a game at Itchenor, West Sussex, as seen in this 1970 portrait.
Adjective
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Yes, Israel has been much too heavy-handed in its response to Hamas in Gaza.
-
Thorazine is a heavy-handed chemical tool sometimes used not to treat an underlying illness, but to sedate an acute behavioral crisis.
Verb
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Visuals also showed some people receiving CPR. Uncontrollable crowd Police started caning people at one gate, leading to more chaos, said Mithun Singh, a software engineer among the crowd.
-
Both failed to fire, and the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, with a hair-trigger temper, began caning the would-be assassin.
Noun
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Babcock will use playing time as a hammer.
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Dylan has access to a variety of them, our favorite being using the giant hammer to smash the Hiss into pieces.
Adjective
-
Karol let those lines here serve as her brief indictment of the present, jackbooted environment around immigration and repression in the United States.
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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.
Verb
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Gabriel Garland, the Love Island UK Islander who was removed from the villa after being named in court documents in a stabbing incident, has broken his silence.
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Continue reading … CABIN CHAOS — Midair horror as passenger admits trying to stab stranger through the eye.
Noun
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The officers hit him with a baton and shocked him seven times.
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Somebody had dropped the baton.
Adjective
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Other booths included photo opportunities dressed in traditional Colonial garb, hands-on historical exhibits and interactive displays that offered visitors a break from the oppressive heat.
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Due to the oppressive heat, the Phillies have adjusted operations through Thursday's game.
Cite this Entry
“Sledgehammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammer. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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