alpha male

Meanings

1. The dominant male in a group of animals.
2. A dominant, assertive, protective, oftentimes successful, leadership-type man or male.

1. Exhibiting the characteristics of a dominant male; dominant, assertive, and protective.

Etymology

Originally used in scientific research of hierarchies in social animals, the term is now often applied to men with dominating characteristics. Already in some use during the 1990s, it was further popularized by Neil Strauss in The Game (2005).