heavy-handed
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heavy-handed
Where it comes from
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”).
adjective heavier-handed · heaviest-handed · heavyhanded
-
Clumsy; awkward.
Some people say, 'I can't make pastry, I'm too heavy-handed.'
Similar: cack-handed, ham-handed, ham-fisted, maladroit
-
Excessive; overdone.
Do not be too heavy-handed with the salt.
Similar: OTT, over the top
-
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."
Similar: ham-handed, ham-fisted, unsubtle, on the nose
-
Overbearing, coercive; unnecessarily forceful; harsh, oppressive.
“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."
Similar: bossy, hard-handed, iron-handed, iron-fisted, brutal, cruel, draconian, overstrict, authoritarian, autocratic, coercive, commanding
Translations
Every language
adj clumsy, awkward
| Français | maladroit |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | unbeholfen, linkisch, ungeschickt, ohne Feingefühl, schwerfällig |
| Русский | нело́вкий nelóvkij, неуклю́жий neukljúžij, неповоро́тливый nepovorótlivyj, кривору́кий krivorúkij |
adj excessive, overdone
| Español | excesivo |
|---|---|
| Français | excessif |
| Deutsch | großzügig, übertrieben, tollpatschig |
adj lacking subtlety or nuance
| 日本語 | 手荒な teara na |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | plump, grob gestrickt, ungehobelt, ungeschliffen, hölzern |
| Русский | тяжелове́сный tjaželovésnyj |
adj overbearing; pushy and coercive
| 日本語 | 強引な gōin na |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | penetrant, poltrig, polterig |
| Русский | деспоти́ческий despotíčeskij, жесто́кий žestókij, угнета́ющий ugnetájuščij, деспо́тичный despótičnyj |
adj extreme, unnecessarily forceful
| Español | draconiano, drástico |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | unbarmherzig, drakonisch, drastisch, rigoros, radikal, durchgreifend |
Talk about this word "heavy-handed." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/heavy-handed. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. heavy-handed. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/heavy-handed "heavy-handed." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/heavy-handed.Cite this
@misc{heavy_handed_2026,
title = {heavy-handed},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/heavy-handed},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
