Literally a wooden doll or puppet; used in the set phrase 木偶の坊 to describe a useless person.
That person says nothing in meetings, just like a wooden doll.
blockhead; useless person; good-for-nothing
Derogatory term for someone who is incompetent or contributes nothing; often used in the set phrase 木偶の坊.
He's a useless good-for-nothing.
役立たず is a more general term for a useless person or thing, while 木偶の坊 specifically evokes the image of a lifeless wooden doll.
人形 is the standard word for doll or puppet, without the derogatory nuance of 木偶の坊.
Common kana-kanji mixed spelling; usually written in kana.
Full kanji spelling; less common but still encountered.
Kana-only spelling; usually written in kana.
Variant kanji spelling with 棒 instead of 坊; less common.
From 木偶 (でく, wooden doll) + の + 坊 (ぼう, boy/monk). Literally 'wooden doll boy', originally referring to a carved wooden figure, later extended to mean a useless person.