marionette

noun

mar·​i·​o·​nette ˌmer-ē-ə-ˈnet 

: a small-scale usually wooden figure (as of a person) with jointed limbs that is moved from above by manipulation of the attached strings or wires

Examples of marionette in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There are few actors whose disembodied voices could carry long stretches of cinema, but Dafoe manages it, turning monologues about marionette mechanics or muttered complaints about hotel politics into something weirdly magnetic. —Leila Latif, IndieWire, 31 Aug. 2025

If the Giuseppe marionette from And Just Like That is still giving you the kind of nightmares that plague Sebastiano Pigazzi's character, don't worry. —EW.com, 19 Aug. 2025

But these Titans aren’t going to be manned behind a curtain like a marionette. —Megan Dubois, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025

Giuseppe’s roommate is a creepy old man who enters his room unannounced with an Annabelle-ish marionette carved and painted in Giuseppe’s likeness. —Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French marionnette, from Middle French maryonete, from Marion, diminutive of Marie Mary

First Known Use

circa 1620, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for marionette

• electrojet
• plantagenet
• videlicet
• abet
• asset
• baguette
• banquette
• barbette
• beget
• beset
• brevet
• briquette

Kids Definition

marionette

noun

mar·​i·​o·​nette ˌmar-ē-ə-ˈnet 

ˌmer-

: a puppet moved by attached strings or wires