Meanings
nounheavy hand (plural heavy hands)
plural heavy hands
- idiomaticThe act of exercising power, rules, or discipline in an overly strict, domineering, or tyrannical way.
ruling with a heavy hand
- The act of executing a task without a light, subtle touch, which often leads to clumsy or excessive results.
Harold’s heavy hand with the scissors might explain his youngest son George’s taste in hairstyle: a vertiginous pompadour buttressed by head wings and a ducktail.
2020, The Editors of PEOPLE, “George”, in PEOPLE Celebrating Beatlemania, page 31
Cite this entry
APA
heavy hand. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heavy%20hand
MLA
“heavy hand.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heavy%20hand. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heavy hand,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heavy%20hand.
Source: heavy hand on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.