ˈpəpə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English popet, from Middle French poupette little doll, diminutive of (assumed) poupe doll (whence French poupée doll), from (assumed) Vulgar Latin puppa, alteration of Latin pupa girl, doll, puppet — more at pupil
1.
a. : a small-scale figure of a human or other living being often constructed with jointed limbs, appropriately painted and costumed, and moved usually on a small stage by a rod or by hand from below or by strings or wires from above — see marionette
b. obsolete : an actor in a play or pantomime
2.
a. archaic : idol 1a
b. : doll 1a
3. archaic : a vain gaudily dressed person
4. : one whose acts are controlled by an outside force or influence
is no longer the arbiter of his own situation, but rather the puppet of circumstance — Joseph Furphy
felt that they were after all mere puppets, creatures he could use — Sherwood Anderson
a. : a political or governmental official acting in an ostensibly independent or discretionary capacity but actually carrying out instructions from another authority or source
eager to succeed, yet empty of policy and the puppet of his country's enemies — Hilaire Belloc
their satellites and puppets and collaborators have indisputably recorded the actual nature of their governance — Walter Millis
b. : a character in literature that serves chiefly as an agent of the author's designs without exhibiting or developing a distinct personality or a logical motivation
his personages are mere puppets, or, at best, incarnations of abstract qualities, or idealizations of disembodied grace or beauty — Richard Garnett †1906
they are not characters; they are puppets needed to establish certain information — John Van Druten
5. obsolete : puppy
6. : a lathe poppet