ironfisted

adjective

Definition of ironfistednext
as in jackbooted

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ironfisted
  1. jackbooted
  2. oppressive
  3. heavy-handed
  4. stern
  5. sledgehammer
  6. ungentle
  7. severe
  8. grim
Adjective
  • Karol let those lines here serve as her brief indictment of the present, jackbooted environment around immigration and repression in the United States.
    — Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2026
  • Hungary under his rule is far from a jackbooted dictatorship, but its democracy is diverging markedly from that of many of its partners in the European Union.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2018
Definition of jackbooted
Adjective
  • Thomas shocks Vision back to life, but this somehow alerts Butcherbird; Vision’s mindscape fills with oppressive red lighting, ominously circling birds, and TVs crackling with static.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The tropical sun was oppressive, but company representatives were prepared with orange parasols, each with a dedicated barcode.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of oppressive
Adjective
  • The result is aromatic and flavorful without being heavy-handed.
    — Andy Baraghani, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The power Whitney expressed was more abstract than Beyoncé’s heavy-handed, and still astonishing, Super Bowl halftime performance in 2016, in which the artist stormed the field with a battalion of women dressed as Black Panthers.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of heavy-handed
Adjective
  • Stuttgart has won both of its games but Atletico Madrid will be sterner opposition for the German team.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Below is Jordan — bearded, stern, and wearing a leather jacket — as Det.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of stern
Adjective
  • If coffee is a sledgehammer blow to the brain — admittedly sometimes useful — yaupon was more like a gentle neural stroking.
    — Gabriel Popkin, Washington Post, 15 Aug. 2022
  • And Sundwall said that, in retrospect, state health officials took a sledgehammer approach to mitigating the pandemic, such as school closings in 2020, when the state could have taken a more surgical tack.
    — Bethany Rodgers, The Salt Lake Tribune, 27 Sep. 2021
Definition of sledgehammer
Adjective
  • Notes From an Apocalypse is a gentle argument for coming to terms with the precarity of life, published in a moment where people are facing its fragility in an immediate and ungentle context.
    — Kate Knibbs, Wired, 16 Apr. 2020
Definition of ungentle
Adjective
  • The crisis capped a week of severe weather in which rain swamped dozens of homes in Utah and tornadoes blew off roofs, knocked trees onto houses and downed power lines in Arizona.
    — MEAD GRUVER, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, says the severe thunderstorms are fueled by the large amount of moisture in the air.
    — Ava Berger, NPR, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of severe
Adjective
  • The discovery raises the possibility of a grim outcome in the search for the four men, which has led to El Salvador deploying 450 special forces soldiers to Haiti as of Friday to aid the gang-fighting force in the search.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The arc of Bradley Whitford’s career makes for a grim report card on the state of the country.
    — David Mack, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of grim
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

ironed out
ironfisted
ironhanded
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ironfisted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ironfisted. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All