Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

snake oil

 noun
     
snake oil [uncountable] especially American English informal
1 something that is claimed to be a solution to a problem, but is not effective
2

snake oil salesman/peddler

someone who deceives people by persuading them to accept false information, solutions that are not effective etc
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
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