under someone's thumb

Idioms  

1. Controlled or dominated by someone, as in He's been under his mother's thumb for years. The allusion in this metaphoric idiom is unclear, that is, why a thumb rather than a fist or some other anatomic part should symbolize control. [Mid-1700s]

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Example Sentences

Yet this film is the closest he’s come to expressing the rage of living under someone’s thumb.

From Los Angeles Times

And she transforms it into this journey of self-discovery of Priscilla Presley going from being a young girl sort of under someone’s thumb to becoming a woman of her own sort of power and abilities.

From Los Angeles Times

“Not only was it disruptive, but it was embarrassing for her to be so viscerally reminded that she is under someone’s thumb. That was jarring.”

From New York Times

He’s always under someone’s thumb, indebted in ways he can’t begin to understand.

From New York Times