rag doll

American  

noun

1. a stuffed doll, especially of cloth.

---

rag doll Idioms  

1. A limp, ineffectual person, as in You won't get a decision from her; she's a rag doll when it comes to making up her mind. This expression transfers the limpness of a soft doll made from scraps of cloth to human behavior. [Mid-1800s]

---

Etymology

Origin of rag doll

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

The word “empathy” gets thrown around like a rag doll.

From The Wall Street Journal

"You held him like a rag doll, didn't you," barrister Gordon Cole KC asked Ives.

From BBC

He recalls watching a mature Ash tree, which he estimates had grown over 60 feet tall, being "blown around like a rag doll".

From BBC

“The entirety of the X2 ride was extremely rough and jerked its riders around like rag dolls,” according to the complaint.

From Los Angeles Times

He hoped to get them to higher ground, but there was no time: The ground wave curled up under them and tossed them both through the air as if they were rag dolls.

From Literature