A puppeteer is someone who brings puppets to life by controlling their movements and often providing their voices. Using strings, rods, or their own hands, a puppeteer makes a lifeless object seem to think, feel, and act like a real character.

Traditional puppeteers work with marionettes (puppets controlled by strings from above), hand puppets that slip over the hand like a glove, or shadow puppets that cast shapes on a screen. Master puppeteers train for years to make their movements look natural. They learn to coordinate multiple strings at once, or to move their fingers inside a puppet so precisely that it seems to breathe and gesture like a living creature.

The word can also describe someone who secretly controls events or people from behind the scenes. If a student discovers that her friend has been manipulating two other friends into an argument, she might say her friend was puppeteering the whole conflict. In politics, people sometimes accuse powerful figures of being puppeteers who control leaders from the shadows.

Famous puppeteers include Jim Henson, who created the Muppets, and Bil Baird, whose marionettes performed in classic films. Modern puppeteers work in television, movies, and theater, sometimes operating complex creations that require teams of people to control a single character.