heavy-handed
[hev-ee-han-did]
- oppressive; harsh: a heavy-handed master.
- clumsy; graceless: a heavy-handed treatment of the theme.
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Origin of heavy-handed
First recorded in 1625–35
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for heavy-handed
Contemporary Examples
So was the importance of protest itself, which he vowed to protect from the heavy-handed policies employed by his predecessors.
Heavy-handed police work like that carried out by Burge and, apparently, Evans, gets results.
She said Mars Hill “engages in heavy-handed discipline through a hierarchical structure.”
The shooting of Michael Brown and the heavy-handed response by the police that followed has struck a nerve among Muslims.
The whole scene is so awash with heavy-handed religious imagery you can probably just skip church on Sunday.
Historical Examples
A rough-featured, heavy-handed peasant's son was this Peter.
God Wills It!William Stearns Davis
John, being the heavy-faced and heavy-handed man, shut the door.
Buried Alive: A Tale of These DaysArnold Bennett
What had he in common with his own father—hard-working, heavy-handed Amos Burr?
The Voice of the PeopleEllen Glasgow
Argyll's heavy-handed management of that election is the subject of Defoe's Atalantis Major.
Atalantis MajorDaniel Defoe
That particular sort of heavy-handed jest was specially dear to Bronckhorst.
The Works of Rudyard Kipling: One Volume EditionRudyard Kipling
heavy-handed
- clumsy
- harsh and oppressive
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for heavy-handed
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper