puppeteer

American  

[puhp-i-teer] / ˌpʌp ɪˈtɪər /

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of puppeteer

First recorded in 1925–30; puppet + -eer

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

Puppeteer, producer, self-described “artist” and “dreamer” Sid Krofft, who with his brother Marty made a wonderland of Saturday morning television through the 1970s, died Friday at 96.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Puppeteer Rachel Leonard said bringing the bridge back was "very special".

From BBC • Dec. 15, 2022

One year ago: Puppeteer Caroll Spinney, who voiced and operated Muppets Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on “Sesame Street” for nearly 50 years, died at his Connecticut home at the age of 85.

From Washington Times • Dec. 8, 2020

Puppeteer Henson, the creative mind behind the long-running children's shows "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show," died in 1990.

From Reuters • Sep. 24, 2013

Tina Modotti's celebrated Hands of the Puppeteer, massive and tangled in fine strings like Gulliver tied down by the Lilliputians, shows her gift for capturing the sensual materiality of life.

From The Guardian • Jul. 6, 2013