sneaking

American  

[snee-king] / ˈsni kɪŋ /

adjective

1. acting in a furtive or underhand way.

2. deceitfully underhand, as actions; contemptible.

3. secret; not generally avowed, as a feeling, notion, suspicion, etc.

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sneaking British  

/ ˈsniːkɪŋ /

adjective

1. acting in a furtive or cowardly way

2. secret

   a sneaking desire to marry a millionaire

3. slight but nagging (esp in the phrase a sneaking suspicion )

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Other Word Forms

• sneakingly adverb
• sneakingness noun
• unsneaking adjective

Etymology

Origin of sneaking

First recorded in 1575–85; sneak + -ing ²

Example Sentences

One post tags Rihanna, whom she challenged "to say something to me directly instead of sneaking around like you talking to me where I'm not at."

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

At a holiday gathering in San Francisco, partygoers sipped Celsius and kept sneaking glances at their cracked-open laptops with a mix of pride and fear.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

Team GB's men's curlers are now just two victories away from a remarkable Winter Olympic gold after sneaking into Thursday's semi-finals in Cortina.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026

To the uninitiated, though, even amid steady laughter and a sneaking concern for this silly friendship to right itself, it may come off as much ado about who knows what.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026

They would be sneaking into the Hall of Elders tonight to sit in on the council meeting and hopefully narrow down their list of Nightbeast sidekicks.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega