snoop
Americanverb (used without object)
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snoops,
present (3rd person singular)
-
snooped,
past participle, past
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snooping
present participle
noun
-
snoops
plural
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an act or instance of snooping.
-
a person who snoops.
-
a private detective.
verb
noun
-
a person who pries into the business of others
-
an act or instance of snooping
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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snoopsimple
-
snoopssimple
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have snoopedperfect
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has snoopedperfect
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am snoopingprogressive
-
are snoopingprogressive
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is snoopingprogressive
-
have been snoopingperfect progressive
-
has been snoopingperfect progressive
Past
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snoopedsimple
-
had snoopedperfect
-
was snoopingprogressive
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were snoopingprogressive
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had been snoopingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of snoop
1825–35, < Dutch snoepen to take and eat food on the sly
Explanation
When you snoop, you poke around in someone else's business. A teenager might snoop in her sister's room, looking for her diary. You snoop when you rustle through someone's garbage looking for love letters, and if you spy on your neighbor through the curtains, you also snoop. In fact, if you spend enough time doing this, you'll be called a snoop — a sneaky busybody. The earliest meaning of snoop, "to go around in a prying manner," comes from the Dutch word snoepen, "to pry."
Vocabulary lists containing snoop
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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:
While co-COO at the bank, Bisignano directed staff to snoop on rival executives, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Camryn Smith and her daughter showed up to snoop around for the deals at the Americana at Brand in Glendale early Friday morning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2025
One member warned that state officials would snoop around their rural properties to tell owners what to do.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2025
"I'd probably go up to them and say, 'Have you heard about the ban?' I'd rather be up front than snoop on a neighbour."
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2025
"It's raining outside. And it's really cold. I don't understand. How did the snoop find us?"
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
Yet the very value proposition of VPNs rests on an internet rife with restrictions and snoops.
From Slate ● Jan. 10, 2025
Mr. Chew disputed that his app snoops on Americans.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 23, 2023
She snoops to conquer in “Harriet the Spy,” a new animated series based on the classic children’s novel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2021
The latest evidence of the problem surfaced on Sept. 21 when a group of online snoops released purportedly leaked documents revealing a 2018 grant proposal.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 7, 2021
Julia often snoops in my room, but she's never discovered this hiding place.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Ms. Criddle wrote that TikTok snooped on her via an account she created for her cat, Buffy, which she developed to test TikTok’s features.
From Washington Times ● May 8, 2023
The reporters who snooped on the weekend’s wedding via binoculars might have had a better view of what they were covering.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 21, 2022
If a third party snooped, they would leave indelible evidence of their interference—like damaging a quantum wax seal.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 22, 2022
The authors speculate it was perhaps high-altitude reconnaissance planes flying at 6 miles high that often snooped over Benghazi.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2022
“You’re telling me you’ve never snooped around his office? Looked through his documents?”
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Julian O’Neill investigates how the unlawful snooping was exposed.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
They’re accepting not only Beijing snooping and cyber-sabotage risk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
An ATM con that involves some snooping, some acting and some sleight-of-hand is being carried out across Southern California, police say.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
You are likely to connect to public Wi-Fi in airports, hotels and cafes, and encrypted connections are crucial for protecting personal data and preventing snooping.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2025
If they were snooping in his room, he was going to be really angry.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
