bludgeonry

English

Etymology

bludgeon +‎ -ry

Noun

bludgeonry (uncountable)

1. Harsh coercion; bludgeoning.
   • 1921, Gilson Gardner, Why the Sherman Anti-Trust Law Has Failed:

     Commercial bribery, spying, egregious misrepresentation and bludgeonry are the things which interest the Federal Trade Commission.

   • 2015, Paul Watt, Anne-Marie Forbes, Joseph Holbrooke: Composer, Critic, and Musical Patriot:

     Just as Poe "managed to offend or antagonize an impressive segment of the American literati, either through slashing reviews, biting journalistic profiles, insulting letters, sober threats, or sudden incoherencies," so Holbrooke was perceived in some quarters as "a destructive critic (of the best intentions)" who "fails to see the result of his impromptu diatribes," employing a questionable "literary ‘bludgeonry’."