manipulated
Pulled the strings
Manipulated is the past tense of manipulate, meaning handled, controlled, or influenced—often with skill or cunning.
Physical objects are manipulated by hand: She manipulated the clay into shape.
Data or images are manipulated through editing.
People are manipulated through deception or psychological pressure: He felt manipulated into agreeing.
The word often carries negative connotations of unfair influence.
Controlled performing figure
- marionetteString-controlled theatrical figure
- pawnUnwitting tool of another
- toolDevice for a task
- submissiveReadily yielding to control
compliant · docile · subservient · dominated · overpowered · exploited · used · handled
Deceptively altered
- falsifiedMade deliberately inaccurate
- tamperedIllegally altered or meddled
- riggedFraudulently arranged beforehand
- fudgedAltered dishonestly
cooked · faked · fabricated · forged · photoshopped · edited · distorted · skewed
Moved or persuaded
- persuadedLed to believe
- steeredControlled direction of travel
- guidedLed with assistance
- shapedGiven a particular form
molded · biased · prejudiced · maneuvered · orchestrated · engineered · nudged · primed
Deceived into believing
- trickedMisled by cunning
- fooledLed to believe falsely
- misledCaused to believe falsely
- connedDeceived for gain
scammed · swindled · bamboozled · hoodwinked · defrauded · cheated · taken advantage of · played
puppet
Controlled performing figure
- marionetteString-controlled theatrical figure
- pawnUnwitting tool of another
- toolDevice for a task
submissive · compliant · docile · subservient · dominated · overpowered · exploited · used · handled · commandeered
doctored
Deceptively altered
- falsifiedMade deliberately inaccurate
- tamperedIllegally altered or meddled
- riggedFraudulently arranged beforehand
fudged · cooked · faked · fabricated · forged · photoshopped · edited · distorted · skewed · slanted
swayed
Moved or persuaded
shaped · molded · biased · prejudiced · maneuvered · orchestrated · engineered · nudged · primed · prompted
duped
Deceived into believing
conned · scammed · swindled · bamboozled · hoodwinked · defrauded · cheated · taken advantage of · played · strung along
- alteredmodified, changed, altered, edited, revised
- dupeddeceived, tricked, fooled, conned, swindled
- influencedinspired, persuaded, motivated, swayed, affected
- puppet traitsstrings, jointed, wooden, fabric, hand-operated
- wrongedabused, mistreated, victimized, exploited, oppressed
- falsifiedfalsified, doctored, fabricated, fake, faked
manipulatedautonomous
Self-directed and free
free · independent · self-directed · self-determined · empowered
- emotional manipulationExploiting feelings for control
- photo manipulationEditing images digitally
- psychological manipulationControlling others through deception
- media manipulationDeliberate distortion of public information
- genetic manipulationAltering organisms' hereditary code
- image manipulationModifying digital visuals
manipulate, manipulation, manipulative, manipulator, manipulating, manipulates, manipulators, manipulations, manipulatively