puppet strings
Hidden manipulation lines
Puppet strings are the threads that control a marionette, manipulated from above to make the figure move.
The phrase almost always appears figuratively: someone who pulls the strings or holds the puppet strings exercises hidden control over others.
To cut the puppet strings is to free oneself from such manipulation.
He's just a figurehead—someone else is pulling the puppet strings.
- marionetteString-controlled theatrical figure
- controlAuthority to direct
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- power playStrategic leverage attempt
- pullingForce toward oneself
threads · master · behind the scenes · dangling · wooden · tangled · invisible · attached · jerky · limbs · dance · obedience · hands · movement · wires · shadow · theater · lifeless
- puppetrymarionette, marionettes, puppeteering, Bunraku, bunraku
- PinocchioPinocchio, Geppetto, Blue Fairy, Jiminy Cricket, long nose
- power metaphorsiron fist, iron grip, reins, stranglehold, upper hand
- marionettesmarionette, wooden body, control bar, crossbar, dangle
- allegoryAnimal Farm, Narnia, The Little Prince, religious allegory, political allegory
- Puppetsmarionette, ventriloquist dummy, bunraku, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy
puppet stringshand puppet
Worn figure you animate
glove puppet · finger puppet · animatronics · shadow puppet · motion capture
puppet stringsfree will
Autonomous choice capacity
autonomy · self-determination · independence · agency · self-direction
puppet, string, puppets, puppetry, puppeteer, puppeteers, strings, strung, stringed