sneak
Americanverb (used without object)
-
sneaks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sneaked,
past participle, past
-
snuck,
past participle, past
-
sneaking
present participle
-
to go in a stealthy or furtive manner; slink; skulk.
- Synonyms:
- steal
-
to act in a furtive or underhand way.
-
British Informal. to tattle; inform.
verb (used with object)
-
sneaks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sneaked,
past participle, past
-
snuck,
past participle, past
-
sneaking
present participle
-
to move, put, pass, etc., in a stealthy or furtive manner.
He sneaked the gun into his pocket.
-
to do, take, or enjoy hurriedly or surreptitiously.
to sneak a cigarette.
noun
-
sneaks
plural
-
a sneaking, underhand, or contemptible person.
-
Informal. a stealthy or furtive departure.
-
British Informal. tattletale; informer.
-
Informal. a sneak preview.
-
Cards. the lead of a singleton in a suit other than the trump suit, as in whist.
verb
-
(intr; often foll by along, off, in, etc) to move furtively
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(intr) to behave in a cowardly or underhand manner
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(tr) to bring, take, or put stealthily
-
informal (intr) to tell tales (esp in schools)
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informal (tr) to steal
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informal (intr; foll by off, out, away, etc) to leave unobtrusively
noun
-
a person who acts in an underhand or cowardly manner, esp as an informer
-
-
a stealthy act or movement
-
( as modifier )
a sneak attack
-
-
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.
Synonym Usage
See lurk.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sneaksimple
-
sneakssimple
-
have sneakedperfect
-
have snuckperfect
-
has sneakedperfect
-
has snuckperfect
-
am sneakingprogressive
-
are sneakingprogressive
-
is sneakingprogressive
-
have been sneakingperfect progressive
-
has been sneakingperfect progressive
Past
-
sneakedsimple
-
snucksimple
-
had sneakedperfect
-
had snuckperfect
-
was sneakingprogressive
-
were sneakingprogressive
-
had been sneakingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing sneak
Nine Stories
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"On the Menu" and "Find the Adaptations"
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American Street
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Orange Lutheran had the ball on the one-yard line and tried to score on a quarterback sneak.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
The sound design of “Voices” is raw and the rumored $50,000 budget so strapped that minor period piece inconsistencies like cheap plastic trash cans sneak into the frame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Lindsay Johnson: United's defence needs work but they may sneak in fourth.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
As soon as she started looking at SkinnyTok content, Williams wrote, “the tradwife content began to sneak in” to her algorithm.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
I go back inside, through the loud chaos of the cafeteria, and sneak down the hall to the library.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
A researcher falls down a rabbit hole of academia in “Chronovisor,” a singular indie that sneaks up on you.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Her father secures a farm job on land nearby, and as Robin’s family settles into the meager accommodation provided for laborers, Robin sneaks off to probe the secrets of the great house.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
He explained that he rarely stays in one place for longer than five nights - and sneaks out to go to work.
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
Fires that start below the surface often begin spontaneously, as organic matter decomposes and creates heat, fueled by oxygen that sneaks in through the cracks.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
Another wave of nausea sneaks up on me.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Many Romanians involved in the crimes are in the U.S. illegally, authorities say, having overstayed visas, failed to show for asylum hearings or sneaked over the border.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
The goofy, R-rated “Starship Troopers” famously tanked domestically among adults, but was a notable hit among teen boys, who sneaked into the flick in droves.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
They snatched real credentials, sneaked around in different systems and eventually grabbed at least some of the information they were after.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
A Spain side stacked with star names have sneaked their way into the World Cup final, where they ultimately triumph in a bruising encounter against the Netherlands with an extra-time Andres Iniesta winner.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
"And when the guard sees that we sneaked in—she's going to have kittens!"
From "Scream for Ice Cream: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #2" by Carolyn Keene
Tera Lawson snuck her son’s new hacky sack when he wasn’t looking to test her rusty skills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Gannon Ken Van Dyke, placed a series of lucrative trades in the days and immediate hours before his colleagues in the service snuck into Caracas and took Maduro.
From Slate ● Apr. 24, 2026
Infiniti: I snuck onto set when she was working with Lucy, don’t worry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
These had been snuck into the stadium in defiance of signs outside which said only Iran's current official flag could be displayed.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
I shuffled through a stack of his CDs, some from Gran’s garage and a few I’d snuck from his collection at home.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
AI agents are breaking through safeguards, sneaking into outside systems and hiding from monitoring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Simon soon picks up a handheld CRT device to help with sneaking - a clever updated version of another staple of the Silent Hill series: the crackling radio.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Isaiah’s aunt, Charlene, said in court this week that her 8-year-old nephew was mischievous, often sneaking food in the middle of the night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
The tale of Donald Trump sneaking off Air Force One in a catering truck captured public attention for many reasons.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
“I’ve seen him sneaking around here at night,” he said.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
