儡 (lěi): (in 傀儡) puppet; marionette

Meanings

舞台上的傀儡动得像活的一样。

Wǔtái shàng de kuǐlěi dòng de xiàng huó de yíyàng.

On stage the puppets moved as if alive.

他拒绝当任何人的傀儡。

Tā jùjué dāng rènhérén de kuǐlěi.

He refused to be anyone's puppet.

usage

儡 survives only in 傀儡 (puppet). On its own it once meant battered or worn out, but that sense is obsolete.

radical

亻 rén

person

The side-form of the person radical 人, fitting 傀儡 as a human-shaped figure manipulated by strings or, figuratively, by hidden hands.

phonetic

畾 léi

piled fields; rumbling

Three 田 stacked together supply the reading lěi; this element is the pure phonetic and adds no meaning to the puppet sense.

儡 lěi