puppet
Americannoun
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puppets
plural
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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.
See Examples For:
I like going to the coffee shop where the barista remembers that I take my mint tea iced and unsweetened, and I remember that she has a puppet showcase coming up.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
If 19-year-old Lamine Yamal is the flair and creativity of the Spanish team, Rodri is the puppet master.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Warsh has insisted he will not be a puppet for Trump, and on Wednesday he reaffirmed the importance of the Fed's independence.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
It takes a lot of know-how to puppet and train a robot, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
And Vola was right: after he’d refastened Sinbad, he could move the puppet more smoothly.
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
The siblings collaborate on walk-around suits and puppets large and small.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
In other scenarios, the team used remote-controlled puppets with gadgetry under the skin to perform facial expressions and other subtle movements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
The computer wizards also added actions the puppets couldn’t pull off, like eating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
“It’s not necessarily a financial hurdle,” Evans says, noting “Choo Choo Revue” cost $300,000, with about half of that sum dedicated to the creation of new puppets and scenery.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
Those nieces of hers had probably stuffed those rat-skeletony, dead-eyed puppets right into the trash the first night they’d gotten them.
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.
