meat puppet n. 1

a physical (human) body that is controlled by another person or entity; a person who is controlled in this way

[coined by William Gibson, suggested by a (written) reference to the rock band Meat Puppets]

William Gibson wiki


  • 1984 W. Gibson Neuromancer 147 William Gibson bibliography

    Where’s the meat puppet?

  • 1989 M. Straus Cyber-Slang in SpaceGamer Oct.–Nov. 7/1 page image

    Meat Puppet A person who rents their body out for various types of ‘work’, their consciousness either suppressed or in cyberspace, the body controlled By another person or Computer [capitalization sic].

  • 1997 R. Rucker Freeware (1998) iv. 86 page image Rudy Rucker bibliography

    For all I know, you’re a moldie-run meat puppet playing the part of the innocent oaf.

  • 2006 C. Doctorow I, Row-Boat in The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection (2007) 2 page image Cory Doctorow bibliography

    ‘Don’t drop those meat puppets in our waters,’ the reef warned.

  • 2008 M. Swanwick From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled in Asimov’s Science Fiction Feb. 14 page image Michael Swanwick bibliography

    You must remain a meat puppet for the duration of this mission.

  • 2011 S. Moffat A Good Man Goes to War (Doctor Who episode) 4 June in Doctor Who Magazine (#599) Feb 2024 63/2 page image Steven Moffat

    ‘This base belongs to the Monks—and they don’t need weapons.’ Strax replied: ‘Because they are meat puppets—designed to respond to the simplest commands.’

  • 2018 S. L. Burns Mission Accomplished in Analog Science Fiction & Fact May–June 137/2 Stephen L. Burns bibliography

    Our kind are either dying off, getting put in solitary on sedition charges, or being replaced by meat puppets. I think we’re some of the last holdouts.

  • 2023 A. Paknadel Red Goblin (#5) June (unpaged) page image

    That little….that little offcut and the cosplay Spider-Man just threw me out of my own damn meat puppet!

Research requirements

antedating 1984
Earliest cite

William Gibson, in Neuromancer
Research History
Many cites submitted by Jeff Prucher, who also suggested splitting this from the broader 'human body' sense.

Last modified 2026-08-31 14:58:01
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.