puppet
Americannoun
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an artificial figure representing a human being or an animal, manipulated by the hand, rods, wires, etc., as on a miniature stage.
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a person, group, government, etc., whose actions are prompted and controlled by another or others.
- Synonyms:
- instrument, figurehead, pawn
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a small doll.
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Machinery. poppethead.
noun
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a small doll or figure of a person or animal moved by strings attached to its limbs or by the hand inserted in its cloth body
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( as modifier )
a puppet theatre
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a person, group, state, etc, that appears independent but is in fact controlled by another
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( as modifier )
a puppet government
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of puppet
1350–1400; earlier poppet, Middle English popet, apparently alteration of Middle Low German poppe doll < Late Latin puppa, Latin pūpa doll; see -et
Explanation
A doll or figure controlled by a person so that it appears to be moving on its own is a puppet. A puppet can be fun, but if you feel like a puppet, it seems like someone is controlling you. Not fun. A puppet show, performed for an audience, is a kind of theater — with puppets instead of actors. Hand puppets' arms are controlled by the puppeteer's fingers, while marionettes have many more nuances of movement due to the strings attached to various parts of their bodies. These complex puppets can appear very human-like. Sometimes puppet means someone who is controlled by others: "He was president, but he was just a puppet for his political party."
Vocabulary lists containing puppet
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He took the same relaxed view about his latex puppet in the satirical series, Spitting Image, which mocked his slight speech impediment and sprayed saliva when it spoke.
From BBC • Jun. 14, 2026
Elmo, the famous red puppet from Sesame Street, posted on X about the finals earlier this week.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
It takes a lot of know-how to puppet and train a robot, he said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2026
The breakout star of the celebrity summer-movie circuit is a wrinkly green puppet.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
An hour later, Jessie and Megan had transformed the little wooden puppet theater in Megan's basement into the hottest new lemonade stand on the block.
From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
