bobblehead doll
- noun
- /ˈbɑbəlˌhɛd dɔl/
- Offensive
:
títere
- During the meeting, she acted like a bobblehead doll, agreeing with everything her boss said.
Examples
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The columnist accused the council of appointing bobblehead dolls who rubber-stamped every decision.
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During meetings he acted like a bobblehead doll, agreeing with every suggestion without question.
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Parents worried their teenager had become a bobblehead doll, simply repeating friends' opinions at school.
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He is such a bobblehead doll at meetings!
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Many employees act like bobblehead dolls when the boss speaks.
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He was such a bobblehead doll in the group project, never voicing his own opinions.
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The new employee quickly became a bobblehead doll, nodding along to all of her colleagues' suggestions.
Synonyms
121
7.6
A person who follows others without thinking
13
9.8
People who follow others without thinking for themselves
3
9.9
A person who repeats a leader's or commentator's opinions without thinking
1
8.6
A person who nods and agrees with others without offering ideas
Antonyms
How Submissive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'bobblehead' (a toy or figurative label for someone who nods uncritically) with 'doll' (a toy), so the image of a nodding toy readily maps onto a person who agrees mindlessly. This is a metaphorical extension that is somewhat predictable from the parts but depends on cultural knowledge of bobblehead toys, making it only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Bobblehead doll used for a person comes from that toy image: someone who keeps nodding looks like the little figure whose head bobs on a spring, so it means 'a person who automatically agrees' or follows orders without thinking.