puppeteer
Americannoun
-
puppeteers
plural
verb (used without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of puppeteer
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
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:
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
As Roderigo, whom Iago manipulates like a bored puppeteer idly pulling the strings, Daniel Velez is idiotically gullible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 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
The timing finally worked when McCarthy mentioned she had an opportunity for Ortiz as a puppeteer in “Project Hail Mary.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
She reminded Armpit of a marionette who was also her own puppeteer.
From "Small Steps" by Louis Sachar
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
An animatronic puppet has been trotted out like a real-life celebrity in advance of the movie’s Friday opening, putting Grogu’s high-tech internal machinery—and the puppeteers operating it out of sight with remote controls—to the test.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
“We had anywhere between three to six puppeteers on set with me. I would always be on the body, and they would always do the other limbs or legs,” Ortiz explains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 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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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
