puppet state

Frequency: 6.58.5 per million words

a country that is formally independent but is actually controlled by an outside power

puppetNOUN + NOUN

Categories:

state

Examples (10)

  • The small nation was established as a puppet state after the war.
  • Critics accused the ruling party of turning the country into a puppet state.
  • The international community refused to recognize the newly formed puppet state.
  • For decades, the region had been a puppet state controlled by its powerful neighbor.
  • The dictator installed his loyalists to run the puppet state.
  • Historical accounts often describe such regimes as puppet states lacking true sovereignty.
  • The collapse of the puppet state led to widespread instability.
  • Many former colonial territories were, for a time, effectively puppet states.
  • The propaganda machine worked tirelessly to legitimize the puppet state.
  • The aim of the invasion was to create a friendly puppet state on its border.