1
: to go stealthily or furtively : slink
snuck out early
2
: to act in or as if in a furtive manner
3
: to carry the football on a quarterback sneak
: to put, bring, or take in a furtive or artful manner
sneak a smoke
Sneaked vs. Snuck: Usage Guide
From its earliest appearance in print in the late 19th century as a dialectal and probably uneducated form, the past and past participle snuck has risen to the status of standard and to approximate equality with sneaked. It is most common in the U.S. and Canada but has also been spotted in British and Australian English.
1
: a person who acts in a stealthy, furtive, or shifty manner
2
a
: a stealthy or furtive move
b
: an unobserved departure or escape
3
: sneaker sense 2
—usually used in plural
1
: carried on secretly : clandestine
2
: occurring without warning : surprise
a sneak attack
Synonyms
Verb
Noun
Adjective
Examples of sneak in a Sentence
Verb
They tried to sneak into the movie without paying.
She sneaked some cigars through customs.
He snuck a few cookies out of the jar while his mother wasn't looking.
They caught him trying to sneak food into the theater.
Can I sneak a peek at your quiz answers?
Noun
What a rotten sneak! I should have known not to trust her.
He ran a sneak up the middle for a touchdown.
Adjective
a sneak attack on the nation's capitol
Recent Examples on the Web
Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 18 Apr. 2024
Confidence: Medium Friday features partly to mostly cloudy skies with highs in the 60s to maybe low 70s, depending on how much sunshine sneaks through at times.
—Matt Rogers, Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2024
The brothers even went as far as to sneak onto a golf course in Auburn.
—Ariane Lange, Sacramento Bee, 15 Apr. 2024
With the effort to read the HEROES Act, passed after 9/11, to allow blanket debt cancellation for millions having been rebuked by the Supreme Court, White House lawyers have scrounged around the statute books looking for other loopholes to sneak their preferred policies through.
—The Editors, National Review, 10 Apr. 2024
Soho House Location: 29-35 9th Ave Samantha may have been able to sneak her way into this exclusive members-only club by pretending to be British socialite Annabelle Bronstein, but unfortunately, the same won’t work for visitors.
—Kayla Keegan, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024
Quinn Hughes and Connor Hellebuyck could sneak onto some ballots as well.
—Corey Masisak, The Denver Post, 6 Apr. 2024
But the prosecution scoffed at the request and is also requesting that James Crumbley be sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for failing to secure a gun that his son sneaked out of the house and then used to murder his classmates.
—Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, 4 Apr. 2024
Pierson told agents that weapons were easy to sneak across the border.
—Beth Warren, USA TODAY, 6 Apr. 2024
Saba Hamedy, NBC News, 19 Apr. 2024
Rebecca Ferguson’s pregnant Lady Jessica and Chalamet’s Paul are strangers in a strange land: the sole survivors of House Atreides, their family and army recently murdered in a sneak attack on Arrakis, the arid, unforgiving desert world where precious spice is mined.
—Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024
Here’s a sneak peak of the @irishguards rehearsing for their annual parade.
—Becca Longmire, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2024
According to an excerpt from the book, Musk secretly ordered his engineers to turn off his company’s Starlink satellite communications network near the Crimean coast last year to disrupt a Ukrainian sneak attack on the Russian naval fleet.
—Maria Kostenko and Simon Cullen, CNN, 11 Feb. 2024
Other than kicks, the cameras on the uprights can provide unique end zone angles, including on sneaks near the goal line or an aerial view near the pylon.
—Joe Reedy, USA TODAY, 10 Feb. 2024
Crustaceans could be the sneak play that gets people talking at your party.
—Chris Morris, Fortune, 6 Feb. 2024
Reps for the services did not immediately have comment, but such sneak uploads are common and challenging for streaming services to police due to the millions of tracks being uploaded to the platforms every day — multiple sources cite as many as 125,000, and probably more.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 29 Jan. 2024
Facing a fourth and 1 at the 49ers 14-yard line, Jordan Love's QB sneak was called short.
—Christopher Kuhagen, Journal Sentinel, 20 Jan. 2024
Mehera Bonner, Marie Claire, 15 Mar. 2017
Verb
Now both are back at it -- the Heat once more a low seed again relegated to the play-in round, the Panthers this time a high seed sneaking up on no one.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 18 Apr. 2024
Confidence: Medium Friday features partly to mostly cloudy skies with highs in the 60s to maybe low 70s, depending on how much sunshine sneaks through at times.
—Matt Rogers, Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2024
The brothers even went as far as to sneak onto a golf course in Auburn.
—Ariane Lange, Sacramento Bee, 15 Apr. 2024
With the effort to read the HEROES Act, passed after 9/11, to allow blanket debt cancellation for millions having been rebuked by the Supreme Court, White House lawyers have scrounged around the statute books looking for other loopholes to sneak their preferred policies through.
—The Editors, National Review, 10 Apr. 2024
Soho House Location: 29-35 9th Ave Samantha may have been able to sneak her way into this exclusive members-only club by pretending to be British socialite Annabelle Bronstein, but unfortunately, the same won’t work for visitors.
—Kayla Keegan, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024
Quinn Hughes and Connor Hellebuyck could sneak onto some ballots as well.
—Corey Masisak, The Denver Post, 6 Apr. 2024
But the prosecution scoffed at the request and is also requesting that James Crumbley be sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for failing to secure a gun that his son sneaked out of the house and then used to murder his classmates.
—Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, 4 Apr. 2024
Pierson told agents that weapons were easy to sneak across the border.
—Beth Warren, USA TODAY, 6 Apr. 2024
Noun
The black-and-white teaser gave a sneak peak of the visuals for the music video.
—Saba Hamedy, NBC News, 19 Apr. 2024
Rebecca Ferguson’s pregnant Lady Jessica and Chalamet’s Paul are strangers in a strange land: the sole survivors of House Atreides, their family and army recently murdered in a sneak attack on Arrakis, the arid, unforgiving desert world where precious spice is mined.
—Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024
Here’s a sneak peak of the @irishguards rehearsing for their annual parade.
—Becca Longmire, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2024
According to an excerpt from the book, Musk secretly ordered his engineers to turn off his company’s Starlink satellite communications network near the Crimean coast last year to disrupt a Ukrainian sneak attack on the Russian naval fleet.
—Maria Kostenko and Simon Cullen, CNN, 11 Feb. 2024
Other than kicks, the cameras on the uprights can provide unique end zone angles, including on sneaks near the goal line or an aerial view near the pylon.
—Joe Reedy, USA TODAY, 10 Feb. 2024
Crustaceans could be the sneak play that gets people talking at your party.
—Chris Morris, Fortune, 6 Feb. 2024
Reps for the services did not immediately have comment, but such sneak uploads are common and challenging for streaming services to police due to the millions of tracks being uploaded to the platforms every day — multiple sources cite as many as 125,000, and probably more.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 29 Jan. 2024
Facing a fourth and 1 at the 49ers 14-yard line, Jordan Love's QB sneak was called short.
—Christopher Kuhagen, Journal Sentinel, 20 Jan. 2024
Adjective
Get Ready: Katy Perry Has Released a Sneak Peek of Her New Song
And the internet has receipts.
—Mehera Bonner, Marie Claire, 15 Mar. 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sneak.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to sneak
Video
Sneaked vs. Snuck
How the irregular 'snuck' sneaked into the dictionary
Dictionary Entries Near sneak
Cite this Entry
“Sneak.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sneak. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sneak
2 of 3 noun1
: a person who acts in a secret or sly manner
2
: the act or an instance of sneaking
sneak
3 of 3 adjective1
: carried on secretly : clandestine
2
: occurring without warning
a sneak attack
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