figurehead

IPA: fˈɪgjɝhɛd

(nautical) A carved figure on the prow of a sailing ship.
(by extension) Someone in a nominal position of leadership who has no actual power; a front or front man.
(nautical, slang, obsolete) A person's face.

Examples of "figurehead" in Sentences

The word "figurehead" ran in Poppaelia's mind but he did not voice it.
The figurehead was a bull, with a flower on his brow and gilded horns.
Her stern was adorned with flowers, and in the arms of the figurehead was a large bouquet.
Good or evil, competent or inept, any leader or figurehead is welcome to offer assistance at this point.
Clinton, clearly more than a figurehead, is chairman, guiding spirit, and the big gun strategically deployed for publicity and persuasion.
The schooner was called Le Carcajou—the Wolverine—and her figurehead was a carving of the beast, mouth agape and fangs bared, claws ready to strike.
In the event Kim Jong-il dies suddenly, his son, by then identified as figurehead leader, would be surrounded by close family confidantes who have been appointed to senior positions in the Workers 'Party and military in recent months.
Experts say North Korea, hit by sanctions punishing it for its nuclear weapons programme, could adopt a collective leadership when Kim dies with his son identified as figurehead leader but real power held by a group of officials from the ruling Workers 'Party and the military.