strongman
Americannoun
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a person who performs remarkable feats of strength, as in a circus.
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a political leader who controls by force; dictator.
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the most powerful or influential person in an organization or business, by reason of skill in the formulation and execution of plans, work, etc.
noun
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a performer, esp one in a circus, who performs feats of strength
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any person regarded as a source of power, capability, initiative, etc
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of strongman
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He is a defense attorney who became rich representing underworld figures, including right-wing paramilitary commanders who trafficked cocaine to U.S. cities and Alex Saab, the alleged money launderer for former Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
It is the most popular game on earth because it asks for nothing but a ball and other people, and rewards what the strongman cannot abide: cooperation, trust, the surrender of the self.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
And the various guises of a strongman which he adopted were reflected in his policies.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
There are sufficient numbers of otherwise normal people who are attracted to the pathocrats because of their charisma and strongman appeal — enough to lift them to power.
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
She couldn’t see Papa, but Mama was feverishly digging, flinging big bags around like she was a strongman.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
Among the many contentious strongmen who have popped up worldwide in the first decades of the 21st century, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is the most confounding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
The father and son strongmen have frequently paired up to train together and have been spotted rehearsing the elegant poses that made Schwarzenegger a star.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
But the alliance between the children of two former strongmen presidents soon unravelled as they pursued separate political agendas.
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026
Many countries fell under the domination of caudillos, or strongmen whose power stemmed from financial control of the land’s resources.
From Barron's ● Jan. 18, 2026
I hadn’t seen it while they were sitting, but now that they were moving it was painfully obvious they were church strongmen.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
