puppeteer

American  

[puhp-i-teer] / ˌpʌp ɪˈtɪər /

noun

• puppeteers
  plural

1. a person who manipulates puppets, as in a puppet show.

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verb (used without object)

1. to work as a puppeteer, by making puppets perform.

puppeteer British  

/ ˌpʌpɪˈtɪə /

noun

1. a person who manipulates puppets

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• puppeteers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of puppeteer

First recorded in 1925–30; puppet + -eer

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Explanation

A puppeteer is a person who works a puppet, making it move and appear to talk. A puppeteer might do this by putting her hand inside the puppet and moving its arms and head. Puppets come in many different shapes, sizes, and styles, and they all need at least one puppeteer to operate them. Marionettes are puppets with strings, attached to parts of their bodies, that are worked from overhead by puppeteers. Hand puppets are manipulated from below, and some giant puppets require several puppeteers to move their limbs and heads. The Middle English root word is popet, "doll," from the Latin word pupa, "doll or girl."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

puppeteer puppeteers

The marmalade-loving bear is portrayed by a puppet controlled by a two-person team: James Hameed, the remote puppeteer, who controls the expressions and delivers the voice, and Arti Shah, who embodies Paddington on stage.

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026

The first time I wore them, the contraption felt like a puppeteer controlling my legs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

For James, who is the voice of Paddington and remote puppeteer, he said "being a massive gamer" helped him learn how to operate Paddington's facial expressions perfectly.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026

That description is essentially true; as a puppet designer and puppeteer, his job entails figuring out how to materialize figments of the imagination.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026

I went further than forgiving the clerk, I accepted her as a fellow victim of the same puppeteer.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

Annie Ulrich designed and built the puppets, but the “life” animating them comes from the puppeteers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

Magicians, jugglers, puppeteers and acrobats once made a living from crowds in public spaces.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

Things got crowded, with up to 20 puppeteers on set during scenes involving the movie’s four Anzellans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

For many of his scenes, two puppeteers manipulated rods controlling his body.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

It was like two invisible puppeteers, standing stage left and stage right, were yanking on strings to lift up the corners of her mouth.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

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