Word.ws English Dictionary

sock puppet

/ˈsɒkˌpʌpɪt//ˈsɑkˌpʌpɪt/

sock puppet noun: a puppet made from a sock placed over a hand.

sock puppet: a puppet made from a sock placed over a hand
Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

sock puppet (plural sock puppets)

  1. A puppet made from a sock placed over a hand.
  2. Synonym of puppet (“a person completely controlled by another”)
    Synonyms:
    puppet
  3. (Internet, derogatory) An alternative pseudonymous online account, especially one used for abuse.
    • Trying to prove that a new user is simply a previous user in a new sock puppet is quite hard for the ordinary user and even administrators.2009, Andrew Lih, The Wikipedia Revolution, page 303
    • The Internet has created many opportunities for online voting. Unscrupulous people will create sock puppets in order to stuff online ballot boxes. In other cases, a sock puppeteer may create multiple identities to support arguments, voice opinions, or otherwise create the online illusion that may...2014, Timothy R. Levine, Encyclopedia of Deception, Vol. II, s.v. Sockpuppetry
    Synonyms:
    sock, smurf account

Verb

sock puppet (third-person singular simple present sock puppets, present participle sock puppeting, simple past and past participle sock puppeted)

  1. (intransitive, transitive, wiki jargon) To create or use a sock puppet (alternative user account).

sock puppet meaning in Vietnamese

sock puppet in Vietnamese

second account created by a user in an online community
rối, con rối

Synonyms of sock puppet

Forms of sock puppet

Noun
pluralsock puppets
alternative formsockpuppet
Verb
third-person singular presentsock puppets
present participlesock puppeting
past participlesock puppeted
pastsock puppeted

Origin of sock puppet

From sock + puppet.

Words formed from sock puppet

Questions about sock puppet

What does sock puppet mean?
Sock puppet means a puppet made from a sock placed over a hand.
What is sock puppet in Vietnamese?
Sock puppet in Vietnamese is rối, con rối. See Sock puppet meaning in Vietnamese.
What part of speech is sock puppet?
Sock puppet can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce sock puppet?
Sock puppet is pronounced /ˈsɒkˌpʌpɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of sock puppet?
The plural of sock puppet is sock puppets.

Words near sock puppet in the dictionary

  1. sock it to
  2. sock link
  3. sock links
  4. sock monkey
  5. sock monkeys
  6. sock puppet
  7. sock puppeted
  8. sock puppeteer
  9. sock puppeteers
  10. sock puppeting
  11. sock puppetry

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sock puppet (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sock puppet.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-AnotherFriendlyHuman-sock puppet.wav.

Cite this entry: “sock puppet.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sock_puppet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.