heavy hand

noun — 2 senses

heavy hand

noun

1

Idiomatic The act of exercising power, rules, or discipline in an overly strict, domineering, or tyrannical way.

ruling with a heavy hand

2

The act of executing a task without a light, subtle touch, which often leads to clumsy or excessive results.

Harold’s heavy hand with the scissors might explain his youngest son George’s taste in hairstyle: a vertiginous pompadour buttressed by head wings and a ducktail.2020, The Editors of PEOPLE, “George”, in PEOPLE Celebrating Beatlemania, page 31:

Derived terms: heavy-handed, heavy-handedness

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.