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Showing results for ride roughshod over. Search instead for ride+roughshod+over.
Synonyms

ride roughshod over

Idioms  

  1. Act without regard for the feelings or interests of others, as in She just forges on, riding roughshod over her colleagues. This term alludes to the practice of arming horses with horseshoes mounted with projecting nails or points, which both gave them better traction and served as a weapon against fallen enemy soldiers. By 1800 it was being used figuratively for bullying behavior.

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.

Critics say PSNs are being used for projects with minimal domestic benefit, including industrial zones managed by foreign companies, and allow developers to ride roughshod over environmental and rights protections.

From Barron's • Oct. 17, 2025

He said ministers used to "walk" if they briefed about a Budget, and he warned the government not to "ride roughshod over this House".

From BBC • Oct. 25, 2021

A mayor’s cowardice allows an outlaw to ride roughshod over the citizens of a desolate frontier town.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2020

Likewise, not every president is determined to ride roughshod over DOJ.

From The Guardian • May 8, 2020

Zach Powers, Lena Young, and their crowd ride roughshod over a lot of people.

From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.