hardhanded

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hardhanded

Where it comes from

From hard + handed, from the firmness of a strike with the hand or the hardness of calluses on a laborer's hands.

adjective more hardhanded · most hardhanded · hard-handed · hard handed

Forceful, excessive, draconian, or abusive. 'Tis the cruel gripe, / That lean hard-handed poverty inflicts, / The hope of better things, the chance to win, / The wiſh to ſhine, the thirſt to be amus'd, / That at the found of Winter's hoary wing, / Unpeople all our counties, of ſuch herds, / Of flutt'ring, loit'ring, cringing, begging, looſe,
Similar: domineering, harsh, heavy-handed, strict, tyrannical
Working-class; having hands hardened from labor. To deliver out of that Egyptian bondage to Wretchedness, and Ignorance, and Sin, the hardhanded millions, of whom this hardhanded, earnest witness, and writer, is here representative.
Similar: blue-collar, hardworking, working-class, workworn

Opposite: lenient, soft-handed, leisured, upper-class

Thesaurus

adjective

Opposite: lenient, soft-handed, leisured, upper-class

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MLA

"hardhanded." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hardhanded. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hardhanded. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hardhanded

Chicago

"hardhanded." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hardhanded.

BibTeX

@misc{hardhanded_2026,
  title = {hardhanded},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hardhanded},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}