sledgehammer
/ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.93 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A hammer that consists of a large, heavy, broad and flat block of metal (the head) attached to a handle typically 0.5 meter to 1 meter long. The sledgehammer's design is meant to allow it to be swung powerfully, and to distribute force over a wide area upon impact.
adj
Completely lacking grace and dexterity.
Example Sentences
- "These were succeeded by anchor and chain-cable forges, where sledgehammers were dinging upon iron all day long."
- "They take sledgehammers to statues with an uncommon gusto – destroying in seconds what may have survived centuries."
- "Some lawmakers were so incensed that they even invited the news media to watch the sledgehammering of the Japanese company's products on the Capitol's steps."
- "She’s trying to piece together shards of precious pottery gleefully sledgehammered by a delegation led by the Taliban’s minister of culture, who deemed the world’s greatest collection of Central Asian artifacts un-Islamic."
- "Promising new treatments avoid the sledgehammer approach of traditional chemotherapy in two key ways.""
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmɚ/
- British English: /ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
sledgehammers (plural)
sledge-hammer (alternative)
sledgehammers (present, singular)
sledgehammering (participle, present)
sledgehammered (participle, past)
sledgehammered (past)
more sledgehammer (comparative)
most sledgehammer (superlative)