A sock puppet is a puppet made from a sock or similar garment. The puppeteer wears the sock on their hand and lower arm as if it were a glove, with the puppet's mouth being formed by the region between the sock's heel and toe, and the puppeteer's thumb acting as the jaw. The arrangement of the fingers naturally forms the shape of a mouth, which is sometimes padded with a hard piece of felt, often with a tongue glued inside.

A sock puppet decorated with eyes, a mouth and ears.

The sock is stretched out fully so that it is long enough to cover the puppeteer's wrist and part of the arm. Often, but not always, the puppeteer will hide behind a stand and raise their hand above it so that only the puppet is visible. Many sock puppeteers, however, stand in full view along with their puppets and will hold conversations with them using ventriloquism.