bludgeon

The Federal Reserve is trying to bludgeon inflation and bring down annual price increases to 2% or less.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

“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

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

From Salon ● May 24, 2025

They were in the game when the hosts stuttered to 137-5 after 17 overs, only for Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris to bludgeon their way to 185-5.

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 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

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

Nothing wrong with that, except he's also a soft rock fan who bludgeons neighbours, specifically 20-year-old mum Jess, with the sounds of Smooth FM.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 15, 2012

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

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

Iran’s fledgling nuclear-weapons program, already bludgeoned by U.S. and Israeli strikes last year, is now even further from producing a viable bomb.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 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

Singer Al Jourgensen, leaning against an animal bone statue that served as a mic stand, and his bandmates bludgeoned audiences into submission with their hypnotic heaviness, regularly paying fines for exceeding venue noise limits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2025

The stench of something dank, like mildew, bludgeoned my nostrils the moment Karim opened the door that led down the creaky steps to the basement.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

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

Instead of bludgeoning opponents with power, the 5-foot-7 Pegula beats them with savvy, steadiness and tactical variety.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026

After bludgeoning his 51st and 52nd sixes - the second most overall in the history of The Hundred - the only surprise was that Jacks did not kick on to get his century.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2025

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