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figurehead
/ ˈfɪɡəˌhɛd /
noun
- a person nominally having a prominent position, but no real authority
- a carved bust or full-length figure at the upper end of the stems of some sailing vessels
Word History and Origins
Origin of figurehead1
Example Sentences
If presidents are often thought of as figureheads for a political party, video game presidents are stand-ins for many different functions.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, whose fears of change include a dystopian Starbucks-drinking future, is the chief figurehead of the Say Anything style.
He quickly realized he was more of a figurehead, he said, than someone who had significant control over the chain.
Not only is the highly esteemed Berners-Lee the figurehead for Inrupt, but the company also has cybersecurity guru Bruce Schneier as its chief of security architecture.
It’s not even so much policy-based, I just think politics has become so much of a machine — and I like having the feeling that one person can ultimately make the decision, that he is not just the figurehead and the machine is running everything.
How will we know if Kim, when he eventually surfaces, is ruler or figurehead?
Waters herself is a gay figurehead, but again she shrinks from any compliments.
Less than 12 hours later, they lost their inspirational figurehead.
He may be a figurehead, but the president who is elected today is worth keeping an eye on for signs of where Pakistan is going.
Indeed, Medvedev was never really more than a figurehead president, despite the theoretically huge powers attached to the job.
The statues here, and the lions before the Prince of Orange's palace, would disgrace almost the figurehead of a ship.
Without power or privileges, she was a mere figurehead—a good mother looking after her family.
The Speaking Oak then bade him cut off one of its great limbs, and carve from it a figurehead for his ship.
Would people really prefer a figurehead and a symbol of undisputed authority?
Walking steadily, but with a face set as the figurehead on one of his own ships, the captain went to answer the knock.
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