sneak

CEFRB2

/sniːk/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To move quietly so you are not noticed.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    A cheat; a con artist.

Examples

  • The policeman noticed a man sneak in.

  • There was a special sneak preview last night.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meaning

  1. The act of sneaking

noun

Extra meanings

  1. One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.

  2. An informer; a tell-tale.

More examples

In context

  • He decided to sneak into the kitchen for a second cookie while his mom was on the phone.

  • I can't believe I gave that sneak $50 for a ticket when they were selling for $20 at the front gate.

  • My little brother is such a sneak; yesterday I caught him trying to look through my diary.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The burglar tried to blank past the guard by staying in the shadows.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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”), which is related to the root of snake. Compare Danish snige (“to sneak”), Swedish snika (“to sneak, hanker after”), Icelandic sníkja (“to sneak, hanker after”). Possibly related to snitch.