snake oil

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word snake oil. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word snake oil, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say snake oil in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word snake oil you have here. The definition of the word snake oil will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofsnake oil, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: snake-oil

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Commons
Commons
Wikimedia Commons has related media at:
Wikisource has original text related to this entry:

Wikisource

Wikiquote

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Some sources derive it from Seneca oil rather than from snake.”)

Pronunciation

Noun

snake oil (uncountable)

  1. (idiomatic) A fraudulent, ineffective potion or nostrum; panacea.
  2. A traditional Chinese medicine used to treat joint pain.
  3. A type of 19th-century patent medicine sold in the United States that claimed to contain snake fat, supposedly a Native American remedy for various ailments.
  4. (idiomatic) Any product with exaggerated marketing but questionable or unverifiable quality.
    • 2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:
      As for the IRP, Secretary of State Grant Shapps continues to peddle snake oil, smoke and mirrors. His reaction to near-universal IRP condemnation from politicians, local and national media, and all but a few rail specialists was to dismiss the lot of us (in the condescending and patronising tone we have now come to expect) as "critics and naysayers".

Translations

Anagrams

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia