strong-arm

verb

"strong-arm" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“strong-arm” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To bully, to intimidate; to coerce, to muscle.

Corpus desk

Index EN-strong-arm · strong-arm · English

strong-arm · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for strong-arm
PropertyValue
Headwordstrong-arm
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “strong-arm” in English

strong-armsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

strong-arm is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To bully, to intimidate; to coerce, to muscle.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for strong-arm in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From strong + arm. The correct English form is strong-arm, spelled S-T-R-O-N-G---A-R-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    To bully, to intimidate; to coerce, to muscle.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how strong-arm appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. One of the boss’ hangers-on Comes to call at times you least expect Try to bully ya—strong-arm you—inspire you with fear
  2. In a five-part series on the “Extremely Passive Aggressive Roommate,” Ms. Brier […] complains about her roomie coming home at 3:27 a.m.; strong-arms that roommate into renewing their lease and then welcomes a guest to “the common space.”

Etymology

From strong + arm.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "strong-arm"?
"strong-arm" is spelled S-T-R-O-N-G---A-R-M.
What does "strong-arm" mean?
As a verb, "strong-arm" means: To bully, to intimidate; to coerce, to muscle.
What is the origin of the word "strong-arm"?
From strong + arm. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list