strongman

noun

strong·​man ˈstrȯŋ-ˌman How to pronounce strongman (audio)
: one who leads or controls by force of will and character or by military methods

Examples of strongman in a Sentence

a Latin-American strongman who basically treated his nation's coffers as his personal bank account
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The new Administration is dismantling the federal government, allying itself with strongmen, and implementing a new McCarthyism. Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 26 Mar. 2025 European leaders had tried to guide Trump in the days before Zelenskyy arrived, but Trump is wedded to his demented dream of a troika of strongmen — himself, Putin and Xi Jinping — astride the world. Maureen Dowd, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025 The international order forged after World War II is imploding, squeezed on all sides by the return of strongmen, nationalism and spheres of influence — with President Trump leading the charge. Zachary Basu, Axios, 28 Feb. 2025 The senior American diplomat slipped quietly into Belarus, a police state run by a strongman reviled for decades in the West, traveling by car across the border for meetings with President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko and the head of his KGB security apparatus. Tomas Dapkus, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for strongman

Word History

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of strongman was in 1859

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Cite this Entry

“Strongman.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strongman. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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