at loggerheads

Cultural  

1. Engaged in a head-on dispute: “Labor and management are at loggerheads in this affair, and it may be some time before they can negotiate a settlement.”

---

at loggerheads Idioms  

1. Engaged in a quarrel or dispute, as in The two families were always at loggerheads, making it difficult to celebrate holidays together. This term may have come from some earlier meaning of loggerhead, referring either to a blockhead or stupid person, or to a long-handled iron poker with a bulb-shaped end that was heated in the fire and used to melt pitch. If it was the latter, it may have been alluded to as a weapon. [Late 1600s] For a synonym, see at odds.

---

Example Sentences

"Malyuk and Budanov are at loggerheads," he told the BBC, implying that Budanov had heavily influenced Zelensky's decision and that Khmara would now be "in the hands" of Budanov.

From BBC • Jan. 6, 2026

The government of President Emmanuel Macron has been at loggerheads with Shein for weeks after French authorities said they had found illicit products being sold on the platform.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

An impasse over Russian oil and imminent US sanctions has put Serbia at loggerheads with its traditional ally in Moscow.

From BBC • Nov. 11, 2025

The government had already been at loggerheads with Junts in other parliamentary votes and negotiated its support on a case-by-case basis.

From Barron's • Oct. 28, 2025

Though we were then at loggerheads with the government, negotiations in and of themselves, I said, constituted a victory.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• aggressive
• antagonistic
• bellicose
• combative
• contentious
• hostile
• ornery
• quarrelsome