marionette
Americannoun
-
marionettes
plural
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:
No one wants to be a Roth IRA marionette.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
She also helped maintain Disney’s direct line to Fairyland, as Disney in 1957 would once again poach from Fairyland, this time puppeteer Bob Mills to run Disneyland’s budding marionette program.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2026
Street performing in the square dates back to 1662 at least, when Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary about a marionette show.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2023
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
He starts toward us with the awkward gait of a marionette.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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
Fincher said the hard part was giving the marionettes a feeling of suspension.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2025
The animals could be controlled, in essence, like marionettes.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2024
She learned how to create marionettes, write scripts and perform.
From New York Times ● May 15, 2023
He looked behind him at the four crude pine crates the marionettes were packed in, strapped to the back.
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.
