Word.ws English Dictionary

walk softly and carry a big stick

walk softly and carry a big stick is the alternative form of speak softly and carry a big stick.

Meaning of speak softly and carry a big stick

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)

Questions about walk softly and carry a big stick

What is walk softly and carry a big stick the alternative form of?
Walk softly and carry a big stick is the alternative form of speak softly and carry a big stick.

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

  1. walk out with
  2. walk over
  3. walk policies
  4. walk policy
  5. walk shorts
  6. walk softly and carry a big stick
  7. walk Spanish
  8. walk tall
  9. walk the beat
  10. walk the boards
  11. walk the cat back

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: walk softly and carry a big stick (page history and authors); 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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