ham-fisted
Britishadjective
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.
The Justice Department says that Van Dyke then engaged in a ham-fisted scheme to cover his tracks, routing his profits to a foreign crypto account and asking Polymarket to delete his account.
From Slate ● Apr. 24, 2026
Instead we are treated to a ham-fisted effort at pretending that Usha Vance spends her days strapped to a sponge.
From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2025
Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said "ham-fisted prosecutions" were punishing innocent passengers.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2025
In a joint motion to dismiss, lawyers for the Mahoneys and other defendants described Flannery’s lawsuit as “a ham-fisted intimidation technique” designed to smother them with legal fees.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2024
Phony rules, which proliferate like urban legends and are just as hard to eradicate, are responsible for vast amounts of ham-fisted copyediting and smarty-pants one-upmanship.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
