strongman

noun

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.”

   “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.”

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.”