as in mallet
a large, heavy hammer with a long handle
broke up the concrete using a sledgehammer
Related Words
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as in heavy-handed
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
as in to cane
Related Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sledgehammer
Annasofia Scheve, San Antonio Express-News, 13 Apr. 2026
Save the sledgehammer for the Iranians.
—Kelly Sloan, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 Apr. 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
Christian Clark, NOLA.com, 24 Nov. 2020
The suit stemmed from a May 10, 2019, incident in which police sledgehammered the front gate of his Outer Richmond home, held him in handcuffs for hours and seized his phone, computers and other equipment.
—Megan Cassidy, SFChronicle.com, 31 Mar. 2020
See All Example Sentences for sledgehammer
Noun
At Home Depot, he was captured on camera purchasing gloves, a shovel, a sledgehammer, clear acrylic sheets, a scoring tool for plastic sheets, CLR cleaner, two bags of concrete mix and a trowel.
—Annasofia Scheve, San Antonio Express-News, 13 Apr. 2026
Save the sledgehammer for the Iranians.
—Kelly Sloan, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 Apr. 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
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
The suit stemmed from a May 10, 2019, incident in which police sledgehammered the front gate of his Outer Richmond home, held him in handcuffs for hours and seized his phone, computers and other equipment.
—Megan Cassidy, SFChronicle.com, 31 Mar. 2020
See All Example Sentences for sledgehammer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sledgehammer
Noun
-
Does someone’s head get crushed with a mallet?—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Using the flat side of a meat mallet or a rolling pin, pound pork to a ¼- to ½-inch thickness.—
Wini Moranville,
Better Homes & Gardens,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
We are put in charge of making our own way, through tapestries and tea sets, past ancient jug and contemporary sphinx, without heavy-handed authoritative direction.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Apr. 2026
-
But while a majority of Cubans surveyed support a heavy-handed approach towards Cuba’s government, many would like to see a softer strategy towards its people who have come to the United States.—
Syra Ortiz Blanes,
Miami Herald,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
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.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
5 June 2025
-
Both failed to fire, and the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, with a hair-trigger temper, began caning the would-be assassin.—
Barbara A. Perry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Clavicular, 20, is known for such extreme tactics as hitting himself in the face with a hammer so his bones grow back sharper and taking small amounts of methamphetamine to suppress his appetite.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Every stentorian chord became a hammer blow, flourishes intensified into fusillades, a tense pause into an apocalypse.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2026
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
-
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
Verb
-
Marcus Semien hit a chopper down the left side, which Jorbit Vivas stabbed at wildly while missing it badly.—
Abbey Mastracco,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Police in Antioch are investigating after a man was fatally stabbed during an altercation at home over the weekend.—
Tim Fang,
CBS News,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Marsies who resist arrest are doing so without batons, skull-protecting helmets, and guns containing, technically, nonlethal rounds.—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The complaint stated that officers unleashed a torrent of pepper spray, tear gas grenades, rubber bullets and baton strikes, despite the women posing no threat and complying with officers’ orders.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
An especially visually striking debut, Mosquitoes exists in a saturated hyperreality that is consummately engrossing, and announces the Bertani sisters as formidable portraitists of girlhood cast against the backdrop of an alternately beautiful and oppressive world.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Snakes, freeways, difficult men and Didion’s quiet brutality hang in the air like the oppressive heat of this unusually warm spring day.—
Maddie Connors,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sledgehammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammer. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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