creature

Noun

creature (plural creatures)

1. A living being, such as an animal, monster, or alien.
   • insects and other creatures
   • But what would be the sentiment of uppertendom, when it should be rumored that the beautiful young creature, of the proud Clarence Delwood's choice, had stooped so low, as to maintain herself by her own hands?1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds
2. An unidentified, mysterious, and often monstrous animal or being.
   • When it comes to this creature you have to unlearn everything you've ever learned about physiology. For example, when its appendages emerge to feed, they do so using incredible bursts of growth, quite unlike anything ever seen before […]2015 February 25, Nathan Kuzack, The Anguisher Creature, Nathan Kuzack
   • Tammy and Cherise heard the creature's roar. “I think they got him,” Tammy said. “See, I told you. Everything's going to be alright.” Cherise smiled. The beast swung its other, human-like arm, knocking the entire barricade down, […]2020 October 24, Mike Jason, The Creature: What Is It?, Mike Jason
3. (derogatory, sometimes) A human.
   • He's a creature of habit.
   • Otherwise, Partridge discovered himself to be an amiable creature, with a disconcerting habit of occasionally muddling himself up with ethical questions of extreme profundity, sandwiched in between technicalities of Art, and the ordinary affairs of life, a process which was inclined to be a trifle...1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 72
4. (uncommon) A created thing, whether animate or inanimate; a creation.
   • Thoughts, my mindes creatures, often are with thee, / But I, their maker, want their libertie.1633, John Donne, Sapho to Philænis
   • the natural truth of God is an artificial erection of Man, and the Creator himself but a subtile invention of the Creature.1646, Thomas Browne, chapter I, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 10
5. A being subservient to or dependent upon another.
   • "You know what I advise," said Mrs. Smith. "Ask Miss Dunstable to advance the money on the same security which the duke holds. She will be as safe then as he is now. And if you can arrange that, stand for the county against him; perhaps you may be beaten."
     "I shouldn't have a chance."
     "But it would...1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage
   • they, too, despite the appearance of being creatures rather than creators of the Union, could assert the prior sovereignty of their states, for each had formed a state constitution […] before petitioning Congress for admission to the Union.1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry for Freedom, Oxford, published 2003, page 240

   Synonyms:

   puppet