bludgeon

“It’s because governments usually resort to blunt instruments, opting for the bludgeon of sweeping tariffs and subsidies over the scalpel of industrial parks and skills development programs.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

At their core, they are a team built to bludgeon opponents — not slap singles and drop down sacrifice bunts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2025

Liam Livingstone then arrived, full of intent, to bludgeon a pair of enormous sixes as Bethell settled at the other end but he fell before he could do any significant damage.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025

Rather than brainwashing us, the objective of the totalitarian is to bludgeon us into apathy, resignation and passivity.

From Salon ● May 24, 2025

—William Cowper Innumeracy, Freud, and Pseudoscience Innumeracy and pseudoscience are often associated, in part because of the ease with which mathematical certainty can be invoked to bludgeon the innumerate into a dumb acquiescence.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Hamilton: The widows and orphans and other alleged victims of Girardi mostly remain out of the picture, and if they’re discussed, it’s in a vague or remote way, or as rhetorical bludgeons.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2021

In many ways this premiere aims to cut like a freshly sharpened blade but instead bludgeons like a baseball bat.

From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2017

What if a batted ball bludgeons a squirrel in fair territory and sends both ball and squirrel bounding into foul ground?

From Slate ● Jan. 8, 2016

Writing in The Guardian, critic Xan Brooks says of it that it "bludgeons the body and tenderises the soul - it is perplexing, preposterous and utterly fascinating."

From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2014

Lyra obeyed, half happy, half apprehensive, for Ma Costa had hands like bludgeons, and now she was sure: it was their boat she had captured with Roger and the other collegers.

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

Nations that once bludgeoned each other found common purpose, yielding years of economic growth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

By now, they’ve been bludgeoned nonstop with A.I. promotions across social media, TV, and their own academic departments.

From Slate ● May 20, 2026

A lack of jet fuel has bludgeoned the critical tourism sector.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026

Travis Head bludgeoned a 69-ball century to power Australia to victory over a shell-shocked England in Perth on Saturday in the first Ashes Test.

From Barron's ● Nov. 22, 2025

Out on the plains of West Texas everyone knew how the Panthers routinely bludgeoned opponents from El Paso and Abilene and Amarillo.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

Everyone indulged in prodigious scenery-chewing, eschewing any subtlety that Puccini built into this tear-jerking piece in favor of all-around bludgeoning.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

The layoffs bludgeoning the tech industry continued this week as artificial intelligence reshapes the industry.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026

The big-hitting all-rounder marked his 50th T20 international appearance in style as he took 2-16 with the ball before bludgeoning six fours and five sixes in making just his second T20I half-century.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2024

By the standards of most no-holds-barred authorized portraits, “What a Mess!” was the truth equivalent of a below-the-belt bludgeoning, with nearly all the blows targeting Williams’ ex-husband and former manager Kevin Hunter.

From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2024

Bulgu dashes toward me on those deceptively quick legs and throws one of his bludgeoning arms out.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer