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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

bludgeon.

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

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈblʌd͡ʒ.ən/UK, US/ˈblʊd͡ʒ.ən/Northern-England
  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. Something used to coerce someone.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/ˈblʌd͡ʒ.ən/UK, US/ˈblʊd͡ʒ.ən/Northern-England
  1. To strike or hit with something hard, usually on the head; to club.

    transitive
    The apprehended rioter was bludgeoned to death.
  2. To coerce someone, as if with a bludgeon.

    figuratively · transitive
    Their favorite method was bludgeoning us with the same old arguments in favor of their opinions.
Where this word comes from

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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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.