Phrase guide

puppet army

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An army that an invading country forms by recruiting people from already-occupied areas of the country being invaded.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Such an army in China during the Sino-Japanese War.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: specifically

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From puppet + army, a calque from Mandarin 傀儡軍/傀儡军 (kuǐlěijūn, “puppet army”).

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 偽軍 /伪军 (wěijūn) — army formed by the invader by recruiting the people from the occupation zone
  • Chinese Mandarin: 傀儡軍 /傀儡军 (kuǐlěijūn) — army formed by the invader by recruiting the people from the occupation zone
  • Dutch: marionettenleger — army formed by the invader by recruiting the people from the occupation zone
  • Finnish: nukkearmeija — army formed by the invader by recruiting the people from the occupation zone
  • Japanese: 偽軍 (gigun) — army formed by the invader by recruiting the people from the occupation zone
  • Japanese: 傀儡軍 (kairaigun) — army formed by the invader by recruiting the people from the occupation zone
  • Russian: марионе́точная а́рмия (marionétočnaja ármija) — army formed by the invader by recruiting the people from the occupation zone
  • Vietnamese: ngụy quân — army formed by the invader by recruiting the people from the occupation zone