ironfisted

[ ahy-ern-fis-tid ]

adjective

1. ruthless, harsh, and tyrannical:

   an ironfisted dictator.

2. stingy; tight-fisted.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ironfisted¹

First recorded in 1850–55; iron + fist ¹( def ) + -ed ³( def )

Example Sentences

Cassandra, the de-facto leader of the teens, is tenuously ironfisted.

From The New Yorker

The age-old clichés of the ballet world persist: Many call to mind a stereotypical male-dominated, ironfisted, weight-obsessed world that, beyond the competitive drive, pushes women to self-image insecurities.

From Time

She had spent the better part of two decades inside her villa on the shores of Inya Lake, in the moldering former colonial capital of Rangoon, refusing a standing offer to return to her family in England and leave the generals to continue their ironfisted rule, which was unbroken since a 1962 coup.

From Time

To convey his message, Putin has supported a murderous dictator, lectured the U.S. about multilateralism, blackmailed his neighbors into accepting Moscow’s ironfisted embrace, inflamed anti-American and anti-gay sentiments, and brutally cracked down on dissidents.

From Time

Rupert, the ironfisted tightwad, who believed his and his children's money should only be held in the company's stock, had kept his jetset offspring pretty poor compared to other billionaires' children.

From The Guardian

Related Words

• barbarous
• brutal
• callous
• cold-blooded
• cruel
• cutthroat
• ferocious
• fierce
• harsh
• inhuman
• malevolent
• merciless
• rancorous
• relentless
• sadistic
• savage
• unforgiving
• unrelenting
• unyielding
• vicious