Meanings
- datedA person under the control of another; a puppet or mouthpiece.
For the next thirty minutes, I was kind of a prop, his Charlie McCarthy, as he explained some of the things about the building.
1999, Department of Arkansas Heritage, Outside the Pale: The Architecture of Fay Jones (page 12)1 more example
The president has perfected his role as politics' answer to ventriloquist Edgar Bergen—using the Democrats as his Charlie McCarthy.
2008, Byron Williams, Strip Mall Patriotism: Moral Reflections on the Iraq War, page 127
Origin
After Charlie McCarthy, the dummy of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Charlie McCarthy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Charlie%20McCarthy
“Charlie McCarthy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Charlie%20McCarthy. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Charlie McCarthy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Charlie%20McCarthy.
Source: Charlie McCarthy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.