# snake oil

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/snake-oil
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A fraudulent, ineffective potion or nostrum; panacea.

## Examples

- That diet pill is just snake oil.
- The salesman promised his miracle cure would fix everything, but doctors warned it was pure snake oil.
- In an age of misinformation, unproven supplements marketed as panaceas proliferate online, modern iterations of the snake oil peddled by nineteenth-century hucksters.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.