figurehead
Origin of figurehead
Examples from the Web for figurehead
Contemporary Examples of figurehead
How will we know if Kim, when he eventually surfaces, is ruler or figurehead?
He may be a figurehead, but the president who is elected today is worth keeping an eye on for signs of where Pakistan is going.
Indeed, Medvedev was never really more than a figurehead president, despite the theoretically huge powers attached to the job.
At the surface, the man who has emerged as the rescue attempt's figurehead is Laurence Golborne, the Chilean Minister of Mining.
He was the figurehead for D.C.'s ambitious school reform program—until he was found shot to death.
Historical Examples of figurehead
A carver in the neighborhood engaged to make the figurehead.
Tanglewood TalesNathaniel Hawthorne
Got a figurehead for the porch too, and I'll have an anchor for the gate before I'm done.
The ManxmanHall Caine
This gives an air of unreality, a figurehead and type character.
A History of English LiteratureGeorge Saintsbury
Is she merely a figurehead to take orders from the visiting physician?
Dear EnemyJean Webster
Some of them had white bands encircling the throat of this figurehead.
The Trail of the GoldseekersHamlin Garland
figurehead
- a person nominally having a prominent position, but no real authority
- a carved bust or full-length figure at the upper end of the stems of some sailing vessels