Entry 2 senses Webster, 1913 heavy-handed · IPA 01 adj. same as ham-fisted. 1. same as ham-fisted. See: ham-fisted 2. unjustly harsh or domineering; as, incensed at the government's heavy-handed economic policies. Syn. bumbling, bungling, butterfingered, ham-fisted, ham-handed, handless, left-handed. — Syn. -- harsh, roughshod.