marionette
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of marionette
1610–20; < French marionnette, equivalent to Marion (diminutive of Marie Mary) + -ette -ette
Explanation
Use the noun marionette to describe a puppet that's manipulated with strings from above a stage. You might see a marionette show at a child's birthday party. A marionette is a very specific kind of puppet, one that's operated with sticks and wires or strings that move its arms, legs, and head in a nearly lifelike way. Marionettes have been around for centuries, at least since the ancient Greeks used them around 500 BC. The word marionette means "little little Mary" in French, a reference to one of the earliest known marionette characters, a puppet version of the Virgin Mary.
Vocabulary lists containing marionette
Tuck Everlasting
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Power Suffix: -ette
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Projekt 1065
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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.
See Examples For:
At one point, he seems to become a marionette: the vertical line of the microphone stand dividing him in two, with gyrating arms and legs seemingly independent of each other.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
A classic marionette might have eight to 10 strings.
From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
Television’s first puppet superstar was a marionette, Howdy Doody.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2023
A master of the marionette has revealed he was also Tom Hanks's double in Disney's new live action version of Pinocchio.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2022
His eyes were closed now, but except for that, he looked more than ever like a marionette, a marionette flung carelessly into a corner, arms and legs every which way midst tangled strings.
From "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbit
My timings, my instincts, the way that I thought, the way I saw it in my head could be expressed through these really high-tech marionettes on a computer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 18, 2025
The animals could be controlled, in essence, like marionettes.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2024
Another crucial inspiration during the initial development of the character was the work of Royal de Luxe, a street theater company based in Nantes, France, that specializes in creating large-scale marionettes.
From New York Times ● Jun. 1, 2023
The guide to the best California experiences includes a hike through Sequoia National Park’s biggest trees, the wordless grace of Bob Baker’s marionettes and a bowl of ice cream in Strathmore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2022
“Another true piece of myself I recovered: I remembered that I’d made some marionettes for my little nieces when I was a teenager. I remembered how much I loved carving the wood.”
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
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.
