Dictionary

heavy-handed en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From heavy + hand + -ed, literally “having a heavy hand”. Compare Middle English hevitime, heviteme (“burdensome, grievous, grave”), from Old English hefiġtīme, hefiġtȳme (“grievous, wearisome, tedious, troublesome”).

Meanings

1. (derogatory) Clumsy; awkward.
   • Some people say, 'I can't make pastry, I'm too heavy-handed.' 2012, Margaret Powell, The Downstairs Cookbook, →ISBN:
2. Excessive; overdone.
   • However, recently I got a little heavy-handed with the red pepper flakes. 2015, Suzanne Lenzer, Truly Madly Pizza, →ISBN:
   • Do not be too heavy-handed with the salt.
3. (derogatory) Lacking subtlety or nuance.
   • ...punk “music has been, and still is, one of the most heavy-handed genres of music there is. Unfortunately the topics of such heavy-handed songs are almost always seeped in left wing propaganda, bumper sticker rallying calls and oversimplifications of otherwise complex topics." 2005, Nicholas Rombes, The Ramones' Ramones, →ISBN:
4. (derogatory) Overbearing, coercive; unnecessarily forceful; harsh, oppressive.
   • Polls suggest, however, that Beijing’s heavy-handed ways might be backfiring and driving voters to embrace Ms. Tsai. Thousands of Taiwan citizens marched last month against “red media,” or local news organizations supposedly influenced by the Chinese government. 2020 January 6, Raymond Zhong, “Awash in Disinformation Before Vote, Taiwan Points Finger at China”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2020, Technology:
   • Crowther also distanced the BTP from the heavy-handed approach to the lockdown that other police forces have been accused in the national media of taking. 2020 April 22, “Network News: BTP chief pays tribute to rail staff and BTP officers”, in Rail, page 10:
   • “Heavy-handed, huh? Is that by any chance your way of telling me that I'm a bad communicator?" "No, it's my way of telling you that you obviously haven't shaken the take-charge attitude." 2014, Jayne Ann Krentz, River Road, →ISBN:
   • I cite how ineffective heavy-handed training methods are due to the physiological state of high arousal and avoidance behaviors they cause in dogs. 2015, John D. Visconti, Fetch More Dollars For Your Dog Training Business, →ISBN:

Forms

Deriveds

heavy-handedly · heavy-handedness

Relateds

hard-handed · iron-handed

Synonyms

overstrict · demanding · unsubtle · controlling · on the nose · iron-fisted · OTT · cack-handed · bossy · overbearing · oppressive · bossy · despotic · commanding · harsh · dominant · brassy · monocratic · maladroit · obtrusive · ham-handed · over the top · authoritarian · iron-fisted · iron-handed · dictatorial · autocratic · iron-handed · heavy-handed · ham-fisted · cruel · strict · draconian · coercive · ham-handed · domineering · hard-handed · ham-fisted · forceful · brutal · tyrannical

Translations (60)

de durchgreifend (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · gl excesivo (excessive, overdone) · bg жесток (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · de tollpatschig (excessive, overdone) · cy trwm ei lach (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · ja 強引な (overbearing; pushy and coercive) · de rigoros (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · de drakonisch (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · de penetrant (overbearing; pushy and coercive) · ru угнета́ющий (overbearing; pushy and coercive) · de drastisch (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · de linkisch (clumsy, awkward) · es drástico (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · nl hardhandig (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · eo maldelikata (lacking subtlety or nuance) · fi kovaotteinen (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · de radikal (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · ru деспо́тичный (overbearing; pushy and coercive) · es excesivo (excessive, overdone) · ru деспоти́ческий (overbearing; pushy and coercive) · ja 手荒な (lacking subtlety or nuance) · bg драстичен (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · bg непохватен (clumsy, awkward) · de schwerfällig (clumsy, awkward) · fi ylenpalttinen (excessive, overdone) · de ohne Feingefühl (clumsy, awkward) · fr maladroit (clumsy, awkward) · de poltrig (overbearing; pushy and coercive) · bg прекаляващ (excessive, overdone) · cy llawdrwm (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · es draconiano (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · fi kovakourainen (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · ru кривору́кий (clumsy, awkward) · de übertrieben (excessive, overdone) · fr excessif (excessive, overdone) · de ungehobelt (lacking subtlety or nuance) · cy llawdrwm (overbearing; pushy and coercive) · fi karkea (lacking subtlety or nuance) · ru неуклю́жий (clumsy, awkward) · de polterig (overbearing; pushy and coercive) · ru жесто́кий (overbearing; pushy and coercive) · ru нело́вкий (clumsy, awkward) · cy llawdrwm (lacking subtlety or nuance) · de ungeschliffen (lacking subtlety or nuance) · ru неповоро́тливый (clumsy, awkward) · nl te scheutig (excessive, overdone) · cy llawdrwm (excessive, overdone) · de grob gestrickt (lacking subtlety or nuance) · de ungeschickt (clumsy, awkward) · fi kovakourainen (clumsy, awkward) · bg несръчен (clumsy, awkward) · de unbarmherzig (extreme, unnecessarily forceful) · de hölzern (lacking subtlety or nuance) · fi kovaotteinen (overbearing; pushy and coercive) · de plump (lacking subtlety or nuance) · fi kömpelö (clumsy, awkward) · de unbeholfen (clumsy, awkward) · de großzügig (excessive, overdone) · ru тяжелове́сный (lacking subtlety or nuance) · de einschneidend (extreme, unnecessarily forceful)