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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of strongman
Journalists and scholars have drawn parallels between his leadership style and that of strongmen abroad.
—
Daniel Treisman, The Conversation, 3 June 2025
But Carlyle’s unrelentingly bleak vision, his insistence on hierarchy, his veneration of strongmen, don’t look so out of place in today’s reality.
—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 14 May 2025
What Trump wants is a world managed by strongmen who work together—not always harmoniously but always purposefully—to impose a shared vision of order on the rest of the world.
—Stacie E. Goddard, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
But where Trump sees military might and American exceptionalism, his critics see a wannabe strongman putting on a parade for himself.
—Brett Samuels, The Hill, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for strongman
Daniel Treisman, The Conversation, 3 June 2025
But Carlyle’s unrelentingly bleak vision, his insistence on hierarchy, his veneration of strongmen, don’t look so out of place in today’s reality.
—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 14 May 2025
What Trump wants is a world managed by strongmen who work together—not always harmoniously but always purposefully—to impose a shared vision of order on the rest of the world.
—Stacie E. Goddard, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
But where Trump sees military might and American exceptionalism, his critics see a wannabe strongman putting on a parade for himself.
—Brett Samuels, The Hill, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for strongman
Recent Examples of Synonyms for strongman
Noun
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Libya’s dictator Moammar Gadhafi disarmed in 2003, at Western urging, especially from the United States, and subsequently ended up dead in a ditch.—
Elizabeth Shackelford,
Chicago Tribune,
27 June 2025
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Former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (left) and his great-grandson, Lazio player Romano Mussolini (right).—
Isabel van Brugen,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 June 2025
Noun
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While the modern world rages outside their four walls, everything inside is immune to the tyrant of time.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
21 June 2025
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But is that the same for employees who work for a tyrant?—
Daniel Arkin,
NBC news,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Strongman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strongman. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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