sneak

American  

[sneek] / snik /

verb (used without object)

sneaked, snuck, sneaking

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.

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verb (used with object)

sneaked, snuck, sneaking

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.

5. Informal. a sneak preview.

6. Cards. the lead of a singleton in a suit other than the trump suit, as in whist.

sneak British  

/ 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

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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

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.

Related Words

See lurk.

Other Word Forms

• sneakily
  adverb
• sneakiness
  noun
• sneaky
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of sneak

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

Explanation

The word sneak has many shades of meaning, but all involve doing something in a secretive or stealthy way. If you sneak home after midnight, that means you’re quietly creeping into the house so no one will hear you. In addition to moving furtively, sneak can also mean doing something secretly or slipping something in. You might sneak a cookie when no one is looking, or you might sneak your brother into a concert. You could even sneak a glance at that cute guy in your math class — you do it when you think no one will notice. Sneak has a noun form that describes a furtive person — someone who does a lot of sneaking.

Example Sentences

Appeared in the April 6, 2026, print edition as 'New York’s Sneak Tax Attack'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

Sneak back into bed within an hour of waking, and its process begins anew.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2024

"Eat a heavy breakfast. Sneak in food if you can. Last year I had Taco Bell burritos," said user u/bluevero.

From Salon • Jun. 11, 2023

“When we have website sales, we have this distinct ding on our phone,” said Ms. Hall, who owns Sneak City, a store in Seattle that deals in new and pre-owned sneakers.

From New York Times • Dec. 16, 2021

Sneak back downstairs to examine the eggs and see which ones survived.

From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller

Related Words

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