snake oil

noun

1. any of various liquid concoctions of questionable medical value sold as an all-purpose curative, especially by traveling hucksters.
2. Slang. deceptive talk or actions; hooey; bunkum:

   The governor promised to lower taxes, but it was the same old snake oil.

Other Words From

• snake-oil adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of snake oil¹

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30

Idioms and Phrases

see under banana oil .

Example Sentences

Metaverse troubleshooting has gone the way of the snake oil salesman.

From Digiday

Metaverse troubleshooting, at least in part, has gone the way of the snake oil salesman.

From Digiday

There are bad players out there, there is snake oil out there.

From Digiday

Propagandists and scam artists have been selling their brand of proverbial snake oil for ages, all to bend people’s thinking to their goals.

From Science News

It’s instead narcissism, solipsism, sociopathy, hatred, snake oil.

From Ozy

Here the snake oil quotient is a bit more evident than in the skybox seats occupied by insights made using hard science.

From The Daily Beast

Which of these foods have science to back them up, and which are nothing but snake oil?

From The Daily Beast

Americans get riled up about creationists and climate change deniers, but lap up the quasi-religious snake oil at Whole Foods.

From The Daily Beast

Beware, too, of the snake-oil salesmen who promise permanently sharp knives.

From The Daily Beast

Americans need protection from these snake-oil salesmen, and that protection depends almost entirely on Congress and the media.

From The Daily Beast

Related Words

• nostrum