hatchet job

American  

noun

1. a maliciously destructive critique or act.

   The special committee has done a hatchet job on the new proposal.

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hatchet job British  

noun

1. informal a malicious or devastating verbal or written attack

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hatchet job Idioms  

1. see hatchet man, def. 2.

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Etymology

Origin of hatchet job

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

The groundbreaking first film - Ricky Gervais's favourite - focused on Tap's disastrous US tour, and the band still brand DiBergi's treatment as "a hatchet job".

From BBC • Sep. 11, 2025

“I wasn’t going to do a hatchet job or a hit piece on Donald Trump. I wanted to understand who these people were,” he says.

From Washington Post • Jul. 13, 2022

That was quite the hatchet job Matt Brennan did on Ellen DeGeneres.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2022

Misunderstood masterpiece or lousy meal, a richly deserved excoriation or hatchet job, what is clear is that Mr. Pellegrino had unexpectedly emerged as the ultimate caricature of the self-obsessed haute cuisine chef.

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2021

Also, unlike my Pathfinder hatchet job, I had the full schematics of the drill.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir