Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hatchet man

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.08 in modern English

Syllables: hatch-et -man
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A male professional killer or gunman.

noun

A male hatchet-wielding participant in a Chinese-American tong war.

American usage

noun

A male who carries out brutal and unpleasant duties on behalf of another, such as firing dead wood employees.

Colloquial

Example Sentences

"The crime lord dispatched his favorite hatchet man to make sure the witness would not testify."
"After the layoffs, he gained a reputation as a hatchet man and ended up eating lunches alone."

Usage

American usage
Colloquial

Inflected Forms

hatchet men (plural) hatchetman (alternative) hatchet-man (alternative)

Phrases

hatchet job chainsaw consultant

Frequently Paired Words

hatchet job chainsaw consultant

Synonyms

hitman boo how doy iceman

Questions

What does hatchet man mean?: A male professional killer or gunman.

How to pronounce hatchet man

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “hatchet man”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “hatchet man” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.