iron hand

American  

[ahy-ern hand] / ˈaɪ ərn ˈhænd /

noun

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

   The general governed the country with an iron hand.

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iron hand British  

noun

1. harsh or rigorous control; overbearing or autocratic force

   he ruled with an iron hand

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iron hand Idioms  

1. 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]

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Etymology

Origin of iron hand

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Tribal leader Wilson “sometimes ruled with an iron hand, but sometimes on Pine Ridge that was necessary.”

From Seattle Times • Feb. 26, 2023

Otherwise, corruption inevitably will reign with an iron hand and a steel boot.

From Slate • May 19, 2022

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan with an iron hand from 1996 to 2001 before being ousted by U.S.-led forces.

From Reuters • Oct. 14, 2021

Even British MPs argued on the defendant's behalf, amid Cold War concerns about how the UK's treatment of radical thinkers might be compared with the iron hand of the Soviet Union.

From BBC • Sep. 5, 2016

Marian remembered her grandmother Isabella as an imposing woman, tall and imperious, who ruled her family with an iron hand.

From "The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights" by Russell Freedman