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Synonyms

ironhanded

American  
[ahy-ern-han-did] / ˈaɪ ərnˈhæn dɪd /
Also iron-fisted, ironfisted

adjective

  1. having or governing with an iron hand; strict, harsh, or autocratic.

    The new boss turned out to be an arrogant, ironhanded tyrant.


adverb

  1. with an iron hand.

    What makes a politician great is not the ability to rule ironhanded, but an understanding of people and the changing times.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of ironhanded

First recorded in 1760–70; iron + handed

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.

See Examples For:

He governed his charges like an ironhanded country squire, his severity being tempered on occasion by notable Mrs. O, herself the mother of two Pomfret boys.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the changes are unlikely to convince the Iraqi masses that the regime has truly turned over a new leaf, especially since the ironhanded Interior Minister, Ali Hassan Majid, has kept his job.

From Time Magazine Archive

With comic indecision, its economic planners have bobbed between ironhanded Communist controls and fleeting flirtations with capitalism.

From Time Magazine Archive

In its early days Maroc-Presse, like its competitors, rarely criticized the ironhanded suppres sion of nationalism by Resident General Alphonse Tuin.

From Time Magazine Archive

Right ceases to reign, force asserts itself, and Bismarck, ironhanded, invincible, holds sway over a scared, unresisting, one may say a soulless world.

From The Arena Volume 4, No. 21, August, 1891 by Various

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