Bludgeon

//ˈblʊd͡ʒ.ən// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A short, heavy club, often of wood, which is thicker or loaded at one end.

    "We smashed the radio with a steel bludgeon."

  2. 2
    a club used as a weapon wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To strike or hit with something hard, usually on the head; to club. transitive

    "The apprehended rioter was bludgeoned to death."

  2. 2
    strike with a club or a bludgeon wordnet
  3. 3
    To coerce someone, as if with a bludgeon. transitive

    "Their favorite method was bludgeoning us with the same old arguments in favor of their opinions."

  4. 4
    overcome or coerce as if by using a heavy club wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
clubharassbatbatonbe imminentbeat

Example

More examples

"We smashed the radio with a steel bludgeon."

Etymology

First attested in 1730. Origin uncertain, perhaps of Cornish origin (recorded as blogon c. 1450) or from Middle French bougeon, a diminutive of bouge (“club, stick”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.