Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Exceedingly strong in the hand; hence, rigorously determined or severe; unmerciful.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • But will people in these countries quietly acquiesce to iron-handed rulers provided they have food on the table, good teachers in good schools and medicines in hospitals?

    Development without freedom? | Richard M Kavuma 2011

  • He built the Zulu kingdom through his military genius - as well as his iron-handed rule.

    May 2009 2009

  • He built the Zulu kingdom through his military genius - as well as his iron-handed rule.

    History of Violence 2009

  • He built the Zulu kingdom through his military genius - as well as his iron-handed rule.

    Shaka Zulu: A Brief Retrospective 2009

  • He built the Zulu kingdom through his military genius - as well as his iron-handed rule.

    Shaka Zulu: A Brief Retrospective 2009

  • It reflected "the emergence of an iron-handed leader who, by exploiting Russians 'desire for law and order, has struck a sympathetic chord among millions sick of the corruption" of the Yeltsin years.

    Katrina vanden Heuvel: Needed: A New Direction for US-Russian Relations 2008

  • Despite the country's long history of submission to iron-handed regimes, most Soviet politicians admit there's no going back to the totalitarian rule of Stalin's day -- or even Brezhnev's.

    An Authoritarian Solution? 2008

  • Indeed, their own power was assumed after their own violent upheavals and maintained by their iron-handed dictatorships which crush any dissent that could be the impetus for democratic change.

    Bush's Perversion of Democracy in the Middle East 2008

  • At the State Department and at the White House, Marroquín was understood to be an iron-handed despot.

    The Path Between the Seas DAVID McCULLOUGH. 2005

  • At the State Department and at the White House, Marroquín was understood to be an iron-handed despot.

    The Path Between the Seas DAVID McCULLOUGH. 2005

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