sneak
One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.
Noun 4 meanings
One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.
“My little brother is such a sneak; yesterday I caught him trying to look through my diary.”
The act of sneaking
A cheat; a con artist.
“I can't believe I gave that sneak $50 for a ticket when they were selling for $20 at the front gate.”
An informer; a tell-tale.
Verb 4 meanings
To creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen.
“He decided to sneak into the kitchen for a second cookie while his mom was on the phone.”
To take (something) in a surreptitious manner, so as to avoid being noticed.
“Near-synonyms: pilfer, filch”
To stealthily bring someone something.
“She asked me to sneak her a phone next month.”
To hide, especially in a mean or cowardly manner.
Adjective 2 meanings
In advance; before release to the general public.
“The company gave us a sneak look at their new electronic devices.”
In a stealthy or surreptitious manner.
“I was able to get a sneak peek at the guest list.”
Etymology
Possibly from Middle English sniken (“to creep, crawl”), from Old English snīcan (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-West Germanic *snīkan, from Proto-Germanic *snīkaną (“to creep, crawl”), of sound-symbolic origin; compare formally unrelated snake, snoop, snook, snoke, and snoot.
Similar and opposite words
SNEAK at a glance
SNEAK has 5 letters and scores 9 points in Scrabble (S 1 + N 1 + E 1 + A 1 + K 5) and 10 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #7,173 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with sneak
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