🛡️ A strong guard 🏋️ A female bodybuilder

musclewoman

9.8

A woman who protects people by using strength or threats

noun
/ˈmʌsəlˌwʊmən/

: musculosa

The nightclub hired a musclewoman to keep rowdy customers in check.

Examples

Rumors spread that the corrupt politician was protected by a notorious musclewoman.
She works as a musclewoman for a local security firm.
As a musclewoman, she was respected and feared in equal measure on the streets.
The musclewoman intimidated everyone in the room.
The club employs a musclewoman to ensure no one causes trouble inside.
Many feared the musclewoman who guarded the entrance to the exclusive event.
As a trained musclewoman, she provided security for high-profile clients.

Synonyms

muscle

vsmusclewoman

Informal

39 8.2

A person who is paid to use force or threats for someone else

is specific to a female worker rather than any hired person

hired muscle

vsmusclewoman

NSFW

2 7.4

People paid to protect or scare others

refers to a single female employee rather than a group

muscle woman

vsmusclewoman

Slang

8.6

A woman paid to protect someone or to scare people

has identical meaning but written as one word

How Intimidating

enforcer

NSFW

27 7.2

musclewoman

9.8

bouncer

64 4.3

to bodyguard

3 6.0

doorkeeper

1 2.8

Surface Forms

musclewoman singular

musclewomen plural

Morphology

musclewoman = muscle + woman (semi-transparent) = muscle + woman

Formed by 'muscle' + 'woman' and the basic idea (a woman who provides muscle/uses strength) is recoverable, but the slang/figurative sense 'hired thug/enforcer' may not be obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Musclewoman mixes muscle and woman; the word muscle comes from the Latin musculus, which means 'little mouse' because people thought a moving muscle looked like a small mouse under the skin. Because muscle later came to mean a strong person who protects or threatens others, musclewoman can mean a woman hired as a tough bodyguard or thug.