bludgeon
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
to strike or knock down with a bludgeon.
-
to force into something; coerce; bully.
The boss finally bludgeoned him into accepting responsibility.
noun
-
a stout heavy club, typically thicker at one end
-
a person, line of argument, etc, that is effective but unsubtle
verb
-
to hit or knock down with or as with a bludgeon
-
(often foll by into) to force; bully; coerce
they bludgeoned him into accepting the job
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bludgeonsimple
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bludgeonssimple
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have bludgeonedperfect
-
has bludgeonedperfect
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am bludgeoningprogressive
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are bludgeoningprogressive
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is bludgeoningprogressive
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have been bludgeoningperfect progressive
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has been bludgeoningperfect progressive
Past
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bludgeonedsimple
-
had bludgeonedperfect
-
was bludgeoningprogressive
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were bludgeoningprogressive
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had been bludgeoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bludgeon
First recorded in 1720–30; origin uncertain
Explanation
As a noun, a bludgeon refers to a heavy club used as a weapon. Synonyms for bludgeon include truncheon, nightstick, cudgel, and billy club. The verb bludgeon developed from the noun form. It means to strike repeatedly with a heavy club or similar weapon. If you have a cockroach invasion in your kitchen, you might be tempted to bludgeon the insects with a rolled up newspaper every time you turn on the lights. The verb bludgeon is also used metaphorically to mean to roughly coerce or force someone to do something as if you had a bludgeon. If your boss is a bully, he may bludgeon you and the other employees into working long hours for little recognition.
Vocabulary lists containing bludgeon
"Invictus"
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Winning Words from the New York Times Learning Network / Vocabulary.com Student Vocab Video Contest
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Between Shades of Gray
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“It’s because governments usually resort to blunt instruments, opting for the bludgeon of sweeping tariffs and subsidies over the scalpel of industrial parks and skills development programs.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
Rather than brainwashing us, the objective of the totalitarian is to bludgeon us into apathy, resignation and passivity.
From Salon ● May 24, 2025
They were in the game when the hosts stuttered to 137-5 after 17 overs, only for Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris to bludgeon their way to 185-5.
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2025
I think to love history and not just cherry-pick it to use as a bludgeon, you have to love complexity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2023
So I fall back on the support networks of my real-life social class, call the dermatologist I know in Key West, and bludgeon him into prescribing something sight unseen.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Hamilton: The widows and orphans and other alleged victims of Girardi mostly remain out of the picture, and if they’re discussed, it’s in a vague or remote way, or as rhetorical bludgeons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2021
What if a batted ball bludgeons a squirrel in fair territory and sends both ball and squirrel bounding into foul ground?
From Slate ● Jan. 8, 2016
Men in appalling Union Jack suits celebrate when he then bludgeons a forehand wide for 15-15; their joy is, terribly sadly, dampened when Tsonga makes light work of the next two points.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 17, 2015
Writing in The Guardian, critic Xan Brooks says of it that it "bludgeons the body and tenderises the soul - it is perplexing, preposterous and utterly fascinating."
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2014
Lyra obeyed, half happy, half apprehensive, for Ma Costa had hands like bludgeons, and now she was sure: it was their boat she had captured with Roger and the other collegers.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
There was the Erling Haaland game, when Norway’s ponytailed striker bludgeoned Brazil out of the tournament.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
France has bludgeoned the opposition, scoring 16 goals while conceding just two.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
By now, they’ve been bludgeoned nonstop with A.I. promotions across social media, TV, and their own academic departments.
From Slate ● May 20, 2026
Travis Head bludgeoned a 69-ball century to power Australia to victory over a shell-shocked England in Perth on Saturday in the first Ashes Test.
From Barron's ● Nov. 22, 2025
If the cottonmouths hadn’t been enraged before, they were now, determined to destroy the possessed branch that had just bludgeoned three of their friends.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
“I cannot take any more spoken or silently whispered backstabbing and bludgeoning of my character and identity,” she wrote in the message late last month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
Miller was impressive in bludgeoning his way to three figures but by the time he got going, the game was lost.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2025
By the standards of most no-holds-barred authorized portraits, “What a Mess!” was the truth equivalent of a below-the-belt bludgeoning, with nearly all the blows targeting Williams’ ex-husband and former manager Kevin Hunter.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2024
No. Neither the guys nor the grim and eventually bludgeoning show have a gift for levity.
From New York Times ● Nov. 13, 2023
Bulgu dashes toward me on those deceptively quick legs and throws one of his bludgeoning arms out.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
