sneak

American  

[sneek] / snik /

verb (used without object)

• sneaks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sneaked,
  past participle,  past
• snuck,
  past participle,  past
• sneaking
  present participle

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)

• sneaks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sneaked,
  past participle,  past
• snuck,
  past participle,  past
• sneaking
  present participle

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

• sneaks
  plural

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.

Synonym Usage

See lurk.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sneakiness
  noun
• sneaky
  adjective
• sneakily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sneaks
  plural

Participles

• sneaking
  present
• sneaked
  past
• snuck
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sneak
  simple
• sneaks
  simple
• have sneaked
  perfect
• have snuck
  perfect
• has sneaked
  perfect
• has snuck
  perfect
• am sneaking
  progressive
• are sneaking
  progressive
• is sneaking
  progressive
• have been sneaking
  perfect progressive
• has been sneaking
  perfect progressive

Past

• sneaked
  simple
• snuck
  simple
• had sneaked
  perfect
• had snuck
  perfect
• was sneaking
  progressive
• were sneaking
  progressive
• had been sneaking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sneak
  simple
• will have sneaked
  perfect
• will have snuck
  perfect
• will be sneaking
  progressive
• will have been sneaking
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

sneak sneaks sneaked snuck sneaking

The good thing about an early dinner is that you can be home and in bed by 7:30 p.m., where there’s still enough time to sneak in at least one more movie and some dessert.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

A family once tried to sneak a pet parrot into the buffet, tucking it into a wagon next to their small child.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

It is also a representation of the vision which has been in Fleetwood's mind ever since he was a small Southport kid, who occasionally used to sneak over the fence at the iconic course.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

England's Sophie Ecclestone, having just completed a flamboyant half-century, pressed forward, only for the ball to dip, grip and sneak between bat and pad into the stumps.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

“How’d you sneak the virus out?” asked Paris.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

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

This is important because retirement sneaks up on most people.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026

Jonathan realizes the truth as he sneaks up to a hilltop restaurant to listen in on a meeting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2026

When Harry sneaks into the Hogwarts library at night concealed by the Cloak of Invisibility, he opens a forbidden book that begins to scream.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

Another wave of nausea sneaks up on me.

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

But team-mate Olav Kooij did not follow and as the riders hesitated, Waerenskjold sneaked through a gap beside the barriers to launch a counter-attack with 400m remaining.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Only after a nurse sneaked a phone to Johnson was he able to contact his wife.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

On Tuesday, a Ukrainian drone sneaked past air defenses of the Russian capital and struck a key processing unit at the Moscow refinery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026

All better: Basil, the fox who sneaked on a ship to New York.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026

Then he sneaked a glance at Chip, to see if this made a difference.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

In short: Wilson snuck a 2,700-year-old poem through the gates of mainstream taste — and after that victory, her arrogance left her marooned.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

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

As editor at the time, Dacre said the "realisation" that unlawful activities might have been going on "snuck up on us" and so he asked an executive at the paper to look into it.

From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026

But when Calista was in the bathroom washing her tears off, I snuck out of the apartment and down the elevator and outside to the bodega.

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

The 52-metre long rocket has caused a stir among locals, with some "sneaking out" of work for a glimpse, and others preparing their boats for a closer look at the debris.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 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

About two-thirds into Ice Cube’s set, I noticed small groups of people sneaking toward the exit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

However, she was stopped in her tracks when her mom asked, “Where are you going miss? Are you sneaking out?”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026

As we walk through everyone’s duties, I can feel my anxiety sneaking up on me again.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

Related Words

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