means A figure, often of cloth, wood, or other material, that's moved by a person's hand or strings to seem alive; figuratively, anyone controlled by someone pulling the strings behind them.

from From the older 'poppet,' a little doll or small darling, which traces back through French 'poupette' to Latin 'puppa' or 'pupa,' meaning girl, doll — the same 'pupa' that names an insect's doll-like resting stage. The word for a child's plaything quietly grew up into the marionette, and then into the human who dances on someone else's strings.