marionette

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“
But Miss Morley had a soft corner for Delia, and, though she did not exactly favor her, she certainly made allowances for her excitability and her strongly emotional disposition Delia's like a marionette--always dancing to some hidden string," the teacher remarked once to Miss Rodgers.

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Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A jointed puppet manipulated from above by strings or wires attached to its limbs.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • As woodenly as a marionette, Elizabeth stood and wobbled over to the wall. —  Chapter One
  • Her body jerked like a marionette, as if some god were pulling on giant strings. —  Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, February 2005
  • Neil followed his grandson's lead like a marionette, with his jaw slack and eyes numbed by some new sight almost every instant. —  F ;SF; - vol 086 issue 03 - March 1994
  • It was more like being trapped inside the body of a marionette, and unable to anticipate what string would next be pulled. —  Robin Hobb
  • "What you've got is a living breathing marionette -- a human being you can control just as you controlled the spiders in Brazil." —  F ;SF; - vol 089 issue 04-05 - October-November 1995
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French marionnette, from Old French, musical instrument, diminutive of mariole, the Virgin Mary (influenced by the name Marion), from diminutive of Marie, Mary, from Late Latin Maria; see Mary1.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from French marionnette, puppet, also formerly ‘little Marion,’ diminutive of Marion, Marion, diminutive of Marie, Mary, for Mariolette, a diminutive of Mariole, the name formerly given to little figures of the Virgin Mary: see marry.
 

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/mærɪəˈnɛt/
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