sneak

[ sneek ]

verb (used without object)

, sneaked or snuck, sneak·ing.

1. to go in a stealthy or furtive manner; slink; skulk.

   Synonyms: steal

2. to act in a furtive or underhand way.
3. British Informal. to tattle; inform.

verb (used with object)

, sneaked or snuck, sneak·ing.

1. to move, put, pass, etc., in a stealthy or furtive manner:

   He sneaked the gun into his pocket.

2. to do, take, or enjoy hurriedly or surreptitiously:

   to sneak a cigarette.

noun

1. a sneaking, underhand, or contemptible person.
2. Informal. a stealthy or furtive departure.
3. British Informal. tattletale; informer.
4. sneaker ( def 1 ).
5. Informal. a sneak preview.
6. Cards. the lead of a singleton in a suit other than the trump suit, as in whist.

sneak

/ sniːk /

verb

1. intr; often foll by along, off, in, etc to move furtively
2. intr to behave in a cowardly or underhand manner
3. tr to bring, take, or put stealthily
4. informal.
   intr to tell tales (esp in schools)
5. informal.
   tr to steal
6. informal.
   intr; foll by off, out, away, etc to leave unobtrusively

noun

1. a person who acts in an underhand or cowardly manner, esp as an informer
2. 1. a stealthy act or movement
   2. ( as modifier )

      a sneak attack

3. informal.
   an unobtrusive departure

Usage Note

First recorded in writing toward the end of the 19th century in the United States, snuck has become in recent decades a standard variant past tense and past participle of the verb sneak : Bored by the lecture, he snuck out the side door. Snuck occurs frequently in fiction and in journalistic writing as well as on radio and television: In the darkness the sloop had snuck around the headland, out of firing range. It is not so common in highly formal or belletristic writing, where sneaked is more likely to occur. Snuck is the only spoken past tense and past participle for many younger and middle-aged persons of all educational levels in the U. S. and Canada. Snuck has occasionally been considered nonstandard, but it is so widely used by professional writers and educated speakers that it can no longer be so regarded.

Derived Forms

• ˈsneakily, adverb
• ˈsneakiness, noun
• ˈsneaky, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sneak¹

1590–1600; variant of Middle English sniken, Old English snīcan “to creep”; cognate with Old Norse snīkja “to hanker after”

Word History and Origins

Origin of sneak¹

Old English snīcan to creep; from Old Norse snīkja to hanker after

Synonym Study

See lurk.

Example Sentences

“Don’t,” blurted her mother, Rebecca Marriott, who laughed along with everyone else, but kept sneaking anxious peeks at her watch.

From Los Angeles Times

While the margins of those first two losses were narrow, and South Africa sneaked past England by a single point in last year's Rugby World Cup semi-finals, the Springboks were comfortable winners on this occasion.

From BBC

He sneaked in “I’m not a good person” so innocuously that the old me would have overlooked it.

From Los Angeles Times

And last month, L.A. residents got a sneak peek at what that could look like at a generative AI film competition in Culver City.

From Los Angeles Times

I snuck out demoralized at 11 p.m. and woke to find the worst had happened.

From Salon

Related Words

• ambush
• crawl
• creep
• evade
• hide
• slink
• slip
• slither
• smuggle
• steal