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
The two countries have been intertwined over the last year or so, even more intensely since the US military’s raid on Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s compound that led to the longtime strongman being captured and taken away to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
—
Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 17 Mar. 2026
Nations can’t just blink away the nightmares of authoritarianism or assume that removing a strongman will resolve the societal conditions that led to his rise.
—Michael Snyder, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026
Even with the former strongman now sitting in a US jail, that’s a hard sell.
—Peter Millard, Bloomberg, 12 Mar. 2026
Why would the Iraqi strongman have lied to his own generals?
—Arkansas Online, 10 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for strongman
Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 17 Mar. 2026
Nations can’t just blink away the nightmares of authoritarianism or assume that removing a strongman will resolve the societal conditions that led to his rise.
—Michael Snyder, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026
Even with the former strongman now sitting in a US jail, that’s a hard sell.
—Peter Millard, Bloomberg, 12 Mar. 2026
Why would the Iraqi strongman have lied to his own generals?
—Arkansas Online, 10 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for strongman
Recent Examples of Synonyms for strongman
Noun
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The delegation — the first since Russian dictator Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in March 2014 — was headed, symbolically, by Vyacheslav Nikonov, a lawmaker from Putin’s United Russia party and the grandson of Joseph Stalin’s Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov.—
Vladimir Kara-Murza,
Washington Post,
3 Apr. 2026
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More like a memo from the dictator, telling gullible loyalists what to think.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Trump wants to rule over us as a tyrant.—
Killian Baarlaer,
Louisville Courier Journal,
28 Mar. 2026
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In the year 3000, humans fight back against the Psychlos, a race of aliens led by a nine-foot-tall tyrant with dreadlocks (Travolta).—
René Ostberg,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Strongman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strongman. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.
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