Word.ws English Dictionary

speak softly and carry a big stick

speak softly and carry a big stick proverb: do not boast or utter verbal threats, but do make others aware that you are prepared to use physical or military force if necessary.

speak softly and carry a big stick: do not boast or utter verbal threats, but do make others aware that you are prepared to use...
Image: William Allen Rogers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Proverb

speak softly and carry a big stick

  1. Do not boast or utter verbal threats, but do make others aware that you are prepared to use physical or military force if necessary.
    • There is a homely old adage which runs: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."1903 April 3, Theodore Roosevelt, President Roosevelt's Speech on the Monroe Doctrine," Arizona Journal-Miner, p. 4 (retrieved 19 Dec 2011)
    • Under any governmental auspices, as the modern world knows governments, the keeping of the peace comes at its best under the precept, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."1917, Thorstein Veblen, The Nature of Peace, Introductory

Forms of speak softly and carry a big stick

alternative formtalk softly and carry a big stick
alternative formwalk softly and carry a big stick

Origin of speak softly and carry a big stick

Popularized by and often attributed to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) as an expression of his view of foreign policy, possibly of earlier, West African origin according to his account, but with a probability of he himself having coined it. The full version is “speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”

Questions about speak softly and carry a big stick

What does speak softly and carry a big stick mean?
Speak softly and carry a big stick means do not boast or utter verbal threats, but do make others aware that you are prepared to use physical or military force if necessary.
What part of speech is speak softly and carry a big stick?
Speak softly and carry a big stick is a proverb.

Words near speak softly and carry a big stick in the dictionary

  1. speak of the devil and he shall appear
  2. speak one's conscience
  3. speak one's mind
  4. speak out
  5. speak out of turn
  6. speak softly and carry a big stick
  7. speak someone's language
  8. speak to
  9. speak too soon
  10. speak truth to power
  11. speak up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: speak softly and carry a big stick (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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