snooks
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
An imaginary personage often brought forward as the answer to an idle question, or as the perpetrator of a senseless joke. Said to be simply a shortening or abbreviation of "Sevenoaks," the Kentish village.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Where it’s used:
Origin
British & Irish English
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “snooks” mean?
An imaginary personage often brought forward as the answer to an idle question, or as the perpetrator of a senseless joke. Said to be simply a shortening or abbreviation of "Sevenoaks," the Kentish village.
Is “snooks” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.