Marionette
WordNet
noun
(1) A small figure of a person operated from above with strings by a puppeteer
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From French, la marionette. One of the first figures to be made into a marionette was the Virgin Mary, hence the name.
Noun
- A string puppet, usually made of wood, which is animated by the pulling of strings.
Quotations
- 1885 — Gilbert & Sullivan, The Mikado
- If you think we are worked by strings,
- Like a Japanese marionette,
- You don't understand these things:
- It is simply Court etiquette.