sneak

[sneek]

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.

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

/ 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

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.

Other Word Forms

• sneakily adverb
• sneakiness noun
• sneaky 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

Get a sneak preview of the top stories from the weekend's Barron's magazine.

Read more on Barron's

"I've also sneaked a bit of memorabilia off the set, I'm going to be honest with you, at the end of the show", he said.

Read more on BBC

For the past month, we’ve been sneaking out in the early morning—she in a Navy SEAL-worthy vest and me in one that looks like an ill-fitting lifejacket—as we supercharge our morning walk.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

I felt sheepish when my partner caught me sneaking a cookie shortly after I had encouraged him to forgo dessert so we could “be healthy together.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He first encountered molecular structures at 10 years old, when he sneaked into the school library, picked a book at random, and was captivated by the images, despite not understanding what they were.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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