heavy-handed

comparative heavier-handed · superlative heaviest-handed · alternative heavyhanded

1. derogatoryClumsy; awkward.

   Some people say, 'I can't make pastry, I'm too heavy-handed.'

   2012, Margaret Powell, The Downstairs Cookbook, →ISBN

   Synonyms: cack-handed, ham-handed, ham-fisted, maladroit

2. Excessive; overdone.

   Do not be too heavy-handed with the salt.

   1 more example

   However, recently I got a little heavy-handed with the red pepper flakes.

   2015, Suzanne Lenzer, Truly Madly Pizza, →ISBN

   Synonyms: OTT, over the top

3. derogatoryLacking 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

   Synonyms: ham-handed, ham-fisted, unsubtle, on the nose

4. derogatoryOverbearing, coercive; unnecessarily forceful; harsh, oppressive.

   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

   3 more examples

   “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

   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

   Synonyms: bossy, hard-handed, iron-handed, iron-fisted, brutal, cruel, draconian, overstrict