noun
A hand puppet made from a sock or stocking, often with simple facial features added.
See also: ソックパペット
子どもが靴下人形で遊んでいる。
The child is playing with a sock puppet.
noun
sock puppet (fake online account)
Internet slang for a pseudonymous account used to deceive or manipulate online discussions.
掲示板で靴下人形を使って自演するのは禁止されている。
Using a sock puppet to stage a performance on a forum is prohibited.
Katakana loanword from English 'sock puppet', used for both the physical puppet and the online deception sense, but 靴下人形 is the native Japanese term.
Compound of 靴下 (sock) and 人形 (doll, puppet). The online slang sense is a semantic extension from the physical puppet, likely influenced by English 'sock puppet'.