as in to intimidate
to make timid or fearful by or as if by threats
developers trying to strong-arm homeowners into selling their houses at below-market prices
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Recent Examples of strong-arm
Don’t try and strong-arm anyone into supporting you, because that certainly won’t leave anyone impressed.
—
Tarot Astrologers, Chicago Tribune, 16 Mar. 2023
On Thursday Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne invoked Article 49 of the French constitution, which enabled the Macron government to strong-arm a bill through the National Assembly without a vote.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 16 Mar. 2023
Both Sides Win In a difficult market, taking a strong-arm position may backfire.
—Jack Kelly, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023
Government shouldn’t ban their working situation in order to empower labor organizers to strong-arm them into joining a union.
—The Editors, National Review, 2 Mar. 2023
See All Example Sentences for strong-arm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for strong-arm
Verb
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Ryan Thornton, 37, of Racine, was initially charged in October in Dane County with stalking and misdemeanor counts of intimidating a victim and disorderly conduct.—
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Salerno claims her team was disqualified from the following meet, and then began to face intimidating stares from the trans athlete at public events.—
Verb
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For the second game running, Omari Hutchinson was too easily bullied off the ball in a dangerous area.—
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Though the basics are similar, the improvements and extras combine to bully its predecessor into storage, and the Roadie 4 now has pride of place in the accessories cubby of my guitar's travel case.—
Verb
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Further complicating matters, Doe was interviewed by Phong Tran, a then-Oakland detective who has since been charged with perjury for allegedly coercing witnesses into falsely incriminating murder defendants.—
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The lawsuit accused the company of coercing customers into signing agreements that allowed the company to act as the exclusive real estate listing agent for an undisclosed period of time.—
Cite this Entry
“Strong-arm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strong-arm. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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