snake oil
A fraudulent, ineffective potion or nostrumA fraudulent, ineffective potion or nostrum; panacea.
» Tom is a snake-oil salesman.
Tom ist ein Scharlatan.
Meaning
4 senses(idiomatic, uncountable)A fraudulent, ineffective potion or nostrum; panacea.
Quacksalberprodukt
(uncountable)A traditional Chinese medicine used to treat joint pain.
(uncountable)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.
(idiomatic, uncountable)Any product with exaggerated marketing but questionable or unverifiable quality.
- (medicine) any of various liquids sold as medicine (as by a travelling medicine show) but medically worthless
- communication (written or spoken) intended to deceive
Examples
5 sentencesTom is a snake-oil salesman.
deTom ist ein Scharlatan. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
You're a charlatan peddling snake oil.
ruВы шарлатан, торгующий средством от всех болезней. — marafon
Tom is a snake oil salesman.
Another huckster trying to sell snake oil again.
Snake oil is used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Translations
5 languagesBy meaning 1
Synonyms
1 synonyms- communication (written or spoken) intended to deceive:humbug
Word family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable