noun
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the art of making and manipulating puppets and presenting puppet shows
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unconvincing or specious presentation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of puppetry
Explanation
If you make puppets or put on puppet shows — either as a hobby or a paid job — you practice the art of puppetry. If you draw a face on an old sock, put it on your hand, and make it act out dramatic scenes, that's puppetry. You may think of puppetry as kids' stuff, but people around the world consider it a valid form of theater. Puppetry has existed since at least the fifth century BCE, and it takes many forms. There's Japanese bunraku, in which puppeteers dressed in black maneuver wooden puppets against a black background. Italy is famous for inventing marionettes, highly complex puppets on strings. "The Muppet Show" and "Sesame Street" are also perfect examples of great puppetry in action.
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.
As well as directing and performing, she is also the head of communications with the South African Puppetry Association, which aims to strengthen professional puppetry throughout the country.
From BBC • Aug. 2, 2023
Guild of Puppetry, which is a charter of the Puppeteers of America, an institution born during the the Great Depression.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2023
Puppetry — with its metaphorical overtones of manipulation and powerlessness — seemed the wrong way to depict children who had such drive.
From Washington Post • Dec. 14, 2021
“They’re including elements of burlesque,” Morán said of the slam, to be presented on Saturday by the Puppetry Guild of Greater New York.
From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2021
But Giannoulas said he’s honored that his irreverent San Diego Chicken character is being recognized as art in a new exhibit at the University of Connecticut’s Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry.
From Washington Times • Oct. 27, 2017
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.
