Quockerwodger

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term for a wooden puppet controlled by strings ; used metaphorically for a person manipulated by someone else
2. Refers to a jointed wooden figure operated by pulling threads ; can also mean someone whose actions are entirely directed by another
3. Describes a marionette-like doll moved by strings ; also applies to a person whose decisions are completely governed by outside influences

Etymology: "Quockerwodger" is a word of unknown origin, and the most that can be said with any confidence is that it may have been coined for a single occasion and never caught on. It names a puppet worked by strings, the sort that jerks and jumps when its operator pulls, and it is also the older name for what is more commonly called a jumping jack. The word's sound is itself its most striking feature: its clipped consonants and rolling middle syllables are the kind of playful, onomatopoeic coinage that children and performers have long favoured for toys and mischief-makers. Because no earlier source has been traced, the word's path into English cannot be reconstructed. Its use is confined to naming a figure that is controlled from above, which is why its meaning has stayed so tightly fixed to the marionette and the toy.

Synonyms: puppet, marionette, dummy

Antonyms: master, controller