hatchet job

noun

: a forceful or malicious verbal attack

Examples of hatchet job in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
No amount of mainstream media hatchet jobs can disguise those optics. David Medina, Hartford Courant, 18 Nov. 2024 But the most shameless is Informer, a scandal sheet that features hatchet jobs and images of buxom women. Robert F. Worth, New York Times, 3 May 2023 Later, the scene is recut as a hatchet job on social media that leads to Tár’s downfall. Jordan Riefe, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2023 In other words, the book is not a hatchet job. John Tamny, Forbes, 27 May 2021 Trump supporters say the potential prosecution is a politically motivated hatchet job disconnected from the law. Joseph Morton, Dallas News, 22 Mar. 2023 Rumor has it that someone is writing a book about her life, which will be a hatchet job. Lincee Ray, EW.com, 9 Nov. 2022 Rick Reilly’s hatchet job in Sports Illustrated, painting Bo as a coward, was merely the most infamous and casually vicious of the genre. al, 27 Oct. 2022 That was quite the hatchet job Matt Brennan did on Ellen DeGeneres. Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1940, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hatchet job was in 1940

Dictionary Entries Near hatchet job

Cite this Entry

“Hatchet job.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hatchet%20job. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on hatchet job

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!