Dictionary

strongman en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English strong Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Middle English man Middle English -man English -man English strongman From strong + -man.

Meanings

1. A man who performs feats of strength, as in competitions or as an attraction in a circus.
   • Giovanni Battista Belzoni, the famous Egyptian archeologist, who was a man of gigantic stature, began his public career as a strongman at the Bartholomew Fair, under the management of Gyngell, the conjuror, who dubbed him The Young Hercules. 1920, Harry Houdini, chapter 11, in Miracle Mongers and Their Methods:
   • Opposite him was the Fat Lady, red-faced and laughing. Beside her, the India-rubber Man wound spaghetti on to a fork with an expression of deepest melancholy. Further down the table, the Strong Man, an overcoat covering his leopard-skin, talked garrulously. 1957, Sydney J. Bounds, The Robot Brains, London: Digit Books, page 26:
   • Early strongmen like Eugen Sandow (the model for the Mr. Olympia trophy) and late-1800s "Iron-Master" Arthur Saxon (who wrote the book on one-hand overhead moves) kicked off the first movement of guys pumping iron. 2026, Greg Presto, “Timeless Gains”, in Men's Health, volume 41, number 2, page 14:
2. A forceful or brutal person, usually a ruler or tyrant.
   • Kazakhstan’s explosion into unrest this week presents a stark warning to the strongman autocrats of the world: Leaving office is perilous. Since the Cold War’s end, a staggering 70 percent of governments headed by strongmen collapsed after the ruler departed, according to one data set. 2022 January 7, Max Fisher, “Behind Kazakhstan Unrest, the ‘Strongman’s Dilemma’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 05 Mar 2022:

Forms

Deriveds

strongman game

Relateds

strongwoman

Translations (39)

is kraftakarl (one who performs feats of strength) · de Despot (forceful or brutal person) · da kraftkarl (one who performs feats of strength) · la ostentātrix (one who performs feats of strength) · de Machthaber (forceful or brutal person) · de Muskelmann (one who performs feats of strength) · hu diktátor (forceful or brutal person) · ru автокра́т (forceful or brutal person) · es forzolento (one who performs feats of strength) · de starker Mann (forceful or brutal person) · de Kraftmensch (one who performs feats of strength) · is heljarmenni (one who performs feats of strength) · cmn 大力士 (one who performs feats of strength) · el μασίστας (one who performs feats of strength) · es hombre fuerte (forceful or brutal person) · la ostentātor (one who performs feats of strength) · pl siłaczka (one who performs feats of strength) · is kraftajötunn (one who performs feats of strength) · de Tyrann (forceful or brutal person) · ru тира́н (forceful or brutal person) · hu erőskezű vezető (forceful or brutal person) · is aflraunamaður (one who performs feats of strength) · es fortachón (one who performs feats of strength) · de Gewaltherrscher (forceful or brutal person) · es forzudo (one who performs feats of strength) · fi vahva mies (forceful or brutal person) · is vöðvatröll (one who performs feats of strength) · sv starke mannen (one who performs feats of strength) · fi voimamies (one who performs feats of strength) · sv starke man (forceful or brutal person) · ru сила́ч (one who performs feats of strength) · sh jakota (one who performs feats of strength) · hu hatalmával visszaélő vezető (forceful or brutal person) · pl siłacz (one who performs feats of strength) · cmn 強人 /强人 (forceful or brutal person) · de Diktator (forceful or brutal person) · la brūtus (forceful or brutal person) · pl mocarz (forceful or brutal person) · hu erőművész (one who performs feats of strength)