iron hand

[ahy-ern hand]

noun

1. strict, harsh, or autocratic, often ruthless control.

   The general governed the country with an iron hand.

iron hand

noun

1. harsh or rigorous control; overbearing or autocratic force

   he ruled with an iron hand

Word History and Origins

Origin of iron hand¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Idioms and Phrases

Rigorous control, as in He ruled the company with an iron hand. This usage is sometimes put as iron hand in a velvet glove, meaning “firm but seemingly gentle control,” as in She runs the town with an iron hand in a velvet glove. [c. 1700]

Example Sentences

Penelope was surprised to hear it, for Mrs. Clarke ran the household with the iron hand of, well, a Spartan general, and that meant she was nearly always on the premises.

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Some top U.S. officials have been advocating for an operation to remove Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela with an iron hand since 2013, administration officials and people familiar with the deliberations said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Museveni's critics say he has ruled with an iron hand since he seized power as a rebel leader in 1986.

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They are the Soviet nostalgics, longing to be ruled by Stalin’s iron hand.

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This subject is governed by fear, surrendering their agency to the grip of cult-like devotion and the iron hand of strongman figures.

Read more on Salon