figurehead

/ˌfɪgjərˈhɛd/

/ˈfɪgjəhɛd/

Other forms: figureheads

A figurehead is someone who appears to be in charge, but who really holds very little influence. In many countries today, kings and queens are merely figureheads.

A ceremonial president or king — one installed as a symbolic head of a country, while someone else holds the real power — is one type of figurehead. If a retiring businesswoman promotes her son to be the new CEO of her company, while putting a different person in charge of running the business, the son is just a figurehead. The word figurehead comes from its original meaning, the figures carved at the front of old sailing ships.

Definitions of figurehead

1. noun

   a leader in name only, without real power or authority
   type of:

   leader

   a person who rules or guides or inspires others
2. noun

   a person used as a cover for some questionable activity
   synonyms: front, front man, nominal head, straw man, strawman

   type of:

   beguiler, cheat, cheater, deceiver, slicker, trickster

   someone who leads you to believe something that is not true
3. noun

   figure on the bow of some sailing vessels
   type of:

   figure

   a model of a bodily form (especially of a person)