How to Use figurehead in a Sentence

figurehead

noun
  • The king is merely a figurehead; the government is really run by elected officials.
  • Prigozhin has been its figurehead only for the past two years.
    — Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2023
  • When this is done right, the founder still becomes the figurehead.
    — Jessica Billingsley, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2025
  • The koru symbol can be seen along the legs of the figurehead.
    — Madison E. Goldberg, People.com, 24 June 2025
  • Retail investors saw him as a figurehead who was on their side.
    — Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 8 June 2023
  • Or an enabling figurehead who sat astride the sins of empire?
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 26 Apr. 2022
  • These are not lofty figureheads, these are real people who care deeply for the world around them.
    — Literary Hub, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Pelosi’s strength has never been as a figurehead or spokesperson.
    — T.a. Frank, The Hive, 18 Mar. 2018
  • Of unearthing the figurehead of a ship that was supposed to have sunk hundreds of miles away?
    — Alida Becker, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024
  • The ship featured two decks, a chapel for mass and a golden lion figurehead.
    — Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 July 2022
  • Charles is no longer the man who talks to his plants but the figurehead who must keep the kingdom whole during a tricky time.
    — Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 11 Sep. 2022
  • In the absence of its figurehead, the restaurant was soon crushed by debt, to the point of closing.
    — Mayukh Sen, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2023
  • Whether the queen played a part or not, Gardy still sees her as the figurehead of a country that gave him a new life.
    — Jean-Nicholas Fievet, NBC News, 12 Sep. 2022
  • The question, then, is whether the fervor will outlast the figurehead.
    — Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 17 May 2025
  • Coleman challenged Douglas to serve on the board as more than just a figurehead.
    — Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press, 4 July 2020
  • Regardless of what the issue is, figureheads emerge who sort of carry the torch.
    — Gideon Lichfield, WIRED, 19 July 2023
  • And what of those who surround the Queen, the accoutrements to the figurehead?
    — Kyle Smith, National Review, 9 Dec. 2017
  • That’s part of his aesthetic as a leader (to fans) and a figurehead (to investors).
    — Bijan Stephen, The Verge, 19 July 2018
  • This meant that Ashley Williams took over as the Wolves' figurehead.
    — Brendan Connelly, The Enquirer, 6 Nov. 2022
  • Key moments that appeared in the show, like iconic video footage from key figureheads, will appear in-game.
    — Echo Apsey, Space.com, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Cultural figureheads will be present at the service in Rome, too.
    — Callum Sutherland, Time, 24 Apr. 2025
  • But the past decade saw the DJ go from a skilled master selector to more of a figurehead.
    — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 15 Dec. 2017
  • But as Foer makes clear, Biden is far more than a figurehead president propped by his staff.
    — Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 19 Sep. 2023
  • Carter was never a remote figurehead with the Guinea worm program, Weiss said.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN, 22 Feb. 2023
  • This also seems to mean that to take the polar bear as the figurehead of the crisis is to accept that the crisis is systemic.
    — Katherine Cusumano, Outside Online, 28 Mar. 2021
  • Imagine being the figurehead for tens of thousands of people every week.
    — Sam Lee, New York Times, 25 May 2026
  • Some very famous people act as figurehead team principals and owners.
    — James Morris, Forbes.com, 14 June 2026
  • The moral glow of Atticus Finch propelled Peck to a new role as civic figurehead.
    — Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 10 Jan. 2023
  • Mayor de Blasio is now a lame-duck figurehead, with less than 1¹/₂ years left in office.
    — Emma Colton, Washington Examiner, 17 Aug. 2020
  • Though, Swansea will be reluctant to let Mawson, a key figurehead at the club go in any part-exchange deal.
    — SI.com, 17 Jan. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'figurehead.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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