as in dictator
a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way
a Latin-American strongman who basically treated his nation's coffers as his personal bank account
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Recent Examples of strongman
An Icelandic strongman best known for his role of Gregor ‘The Mountain’ Clegane on HBO’s Game of Thrones, Bjornsson has also been seen in Robert Eggers’ The Northman and other projects.
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Matt Grobar, Deadline, 20 Dec. 2024
In that environment, cynicism creeps in: If the world is a chaotic place populated with transactional strongmen, why not turn to our own?
—Ben Rhodes, Foreign Affairs, 13 Dec. 2024
Posing as a strongman at home turns out to be different from actually being strong overseas.
—Daniel Block, The Atlantic, 30 Nov. 2024
Ours is the world of strongmen, where decisions increasingly turn on the whims of a vanishing few.
—Chang Che, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for strongman 
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 20 Dec. 2024
In that environment, cynicism creeps in: If the world is a chaotic place populated with transactional strongmen, why not turn to our own?
—Ben Rhodes, Foreign Affairs, 13 Dec. 2024
Posing as a strongman at home turns out to be different from actually being strong overseas.
—Daniel Block, The Atlantic, 30 Nov. 2024
Ours is the world of strongmen, where decisions increasingly turn on the whims of a vanishing few.
—Chang Che, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for strongman
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Cite this Entry
“Strongman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strongman. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
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