sock puppet

noun

1
: a hand puppet made with a sock
2
: a false online identity used for deceptive purposes

Examples of sock puppet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Occasionally, however, sloppiness—failing to delete old tweets or accidentally posting pro-regime messages on opposition sock puppet accounts—have revealed their likely affiliation with IRI intelligence. WIRED, 21 Mar. 2023 This has partially been pursued by hacking opposition figures directly but also through sock puppet accounts, which pit one faction of the opposition against another. WIRED, 21 Mar. 2023 The sock puppet show was averted; Kenwright came through. Roslyn Sulcas, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2023 Remember when the alien sock puppet bursts its head out of John Hurt’s chest? Kenneth R. Weiss, Discover Magazine, 20 Dec. 2018 The scale of the operation piqued his interest, so Oak set up a few sock puppet Facebook accounts and began joining groups offering free Amazon products for review. Simon Hill, WIRED, 2 Nov. 2022 One had a peacock sock puppet during the Oklahoma game last month. Tom Green | Tgreen@al.com, al, 15 Feb. 2022 Cryptocurrency’s biggest boosters would do well to remember tech’s most infamous sock puppet. Angela Watercutter, Wired, 11 Feb. 2022 Whether sock puppet accounts get taken down will depend on each platform’s individual terms of use, Lampe said. Ashley Nerbovig, Detroit Free Press, 3 Dec. 2021 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sock puppet.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of sock puppet was in 1959

Dictionary Entries Near sock puppet

Cite this Entry

“Sock puppet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sock%20puppet. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.

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