ventriloquist
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ventriloquist
1650–60; ventriloqu(y) ( def. ) + -ist
Explanation
Ventriloquists prove that even adults sometimes play with dolls. Specifically, these performers pretend to make their dolls, puppets, or dummies speak for entertainment purposes. The Latin word ventriloquium means “to speak from the stomach.” Ventriloquists have learned the art of projecting their voices, speaking without moving their lips, and moving the mouths of their dummies simultaneously so that it seems like their dummies are talking. Usually, they sit on a stage and pretend to have a conversation as part of a comedy routine.
Vocabulary lists containing ventriloquist
Bud, Not Buddy
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"Raymond's Run"
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The Last Last-Day-of-Summer
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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.
And to consider her as existing separate from her creators is like imagining that the ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy could have a career, and an agent, separate from the real performer Edgar Bergen.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026
Being a magician in a movie is a bit like being a ventriloquist on the radio: What’s the point?
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
So when their sons initially insisted on trying to become actors, both Rick and his wife, Jeanine — who was an amateur ventriloquist — reacted positively.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 7, 2024
Over the past four years it is alleged that she manipulated the mayor in person and by phone with remarkable ventriloquist skills.
From BBC • May 26, 2024
About fifteen minutes into the show, popular ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his wooden dummy Charlie McCarthy finished their comedy skit.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
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.
