ironfisted

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
  • 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
Adjective
  • More than 60 years ago, my parents fled Cuba for the United States, seeking freedom from an oppressive regime that dictated what businesses produced and how products were priced.
    Carlos Cubelo, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 June 2025
  • The film follows a 40-year-old widowed nurse named Mahnaz, who is struggling with a rebellious son and other complications in a heavily oppressive patriarchal context.
    Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 22 May 2025
Adjective
  • In an address to the nation Sunday night about the first year of his new term, Bukele brushed off criticism of his heavy-handed tactics.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 June 2025
  • But many Central and South American nations remain wary of the U.S. For more than a century, Washington frequently employed heavy-handed tactics with its hemispheric neighbors.
    Whitney Eulich, Christian Science Monitor, 30 May 2025
Adjective
  • The flybridge has a reverse radar arch that prompts a double take, while the remainder of the exterior focuses on open space (case in point, the foredeck), along with the beautiful design of the cockpit and stern area.
    Julia Zaltzman, Robb Report, 28 May 2025
  • The 5,000-ton-class destroyer was damaged Wednesday when a transport cradle on the ship’s stern detached early during a launch ceremony attended by Kim at the northeastern port of Chongjin.
    Hyung-Jin Kim, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2025
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
  • After years of severe drought, California saw one of its wettest winters on record.
    Annika Merrilees, Sacbee.com, 7 June 2025
  • Psych patients treated in Idaho maximum security prison An Idaho law passed decades ago requires the state to house severe psychiatric patients within the maximum security prison because there weren’t any secure enough hospitals, ProPublica reported.
    Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 6 June 2025
Adjective
  • After trading away star guard Luka Doncic for big man Anthony Davis, many saw Dallas as a team with a grim outlook for the future.
    Matt Levine, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 May 2025
  • As Read walked to the bench with her legal team, Peggy O'Keefe, seated every day front and center, gave the defendant a grim look, video shows.
    Michael Ruiz , Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 31 May 2025
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 10 Jun. 2025.

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