sneaking 1 of 2

adjective

ˈsnē-kiŋ How to pronounce sneaking (audio)
Definition of sneakingnext
1
as in shady
given to acting in secret and to concealing one's intentions never let one of those sneaking salespeople into your house

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sneak
undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others harbored a sneaking admiration for his chief business rival

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in lame
arousing or deserving of one's loathing and disgust a sneaking two-timer who has completely lost his wife's trust

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

sneaking

2 of 2

verb

present participle of sneak
1
as in lurking
to move about in a sly or secret manner the little kids sneak around upstairs when they're supposed to be in bed

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2
as in infiltrating
to introduce in a gradual, secret, or clever way sneak the topic into the conversation any way you can

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sneaking
Adjective
Contributor Yelena Alpert has a sneaking suspicion that these Frette slippers will last a lifetime, attributing her hypothesis to the shoe’s superior quality. — Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 10 Mar. 2026 The package includes free breakfast for your plus-one (no more sneaking snacks away from the conference), a signature drink each night (perfect for unwinding after your workday ends), and 1,000 bonus IHG One Rewards points. — Kimberly Wilson, Essence, 23 Apr. 2025
Verb
For a solid thirty minutes, the candidates defended their honor as the race’s most pro-Israel candidate — at times sneaking in jabs about their opponent. — Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2026 But, the heartbreak would come sneaking around the bend over what might be the wildest 20 seconds of recent Big Ten memory, thanks to the insane final few minutes. — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026 Kids made good accomplices, tasked with sneaking off on a hunt for the bill. — Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026 But don’t be sneaking just any old can of pumpkin into your cart. — Libby Monteith Minor, Southern Living, 14 Oct. 2026 At 15, Mariana de Miguel was already sneaking into Mexico City’s nightlife with a fake ID, saving money to see the bands that shaped her imagination. — Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 9 Oct. 2026 Imagine sneaking into a math library and combing through every mathematical text ever written. — Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2026 The Chiefs placed Royals at tight end on the line, sneaking him across the back of the end zone on a drag route. — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2026 Isaiah’s aunt, Charlene, said in court this week that her 8-year-old nephew was mischievous, often sneaking food in the middle of the night. — Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sneaking
  1. shady
  2. clandestine
  3. lame
  4. lurking
  5. infiltrating
  6. sneaky
  7. undercover
  8. dirty
Adjective
  • Many shady electronics companies are happy to sell you the wrong component for the wrong price.
    — Tim Stevens, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The fake image was attention-grabbing, shady, and timely — in other words, perfect for social media virality but a potential liability for the parties involved.
    — Mia Sato, The Verge, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of shady
Adjective
  • The arrest, the official explained, came after the Attorney General’s Office concluded that there had been misconduct in an April operation in which state officials dismantled a clandestine drug-manufacturing laboratory.
    — Mauricio Torres, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Bridgers’ tour restricts phones, so the reader’s account had to stand in for the clandestine photo that might otherwise have accompanied the sighting.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of clandestine
Adjective
  • Poetry gets left behind by the exigency of character development or, in the movie’s self-defeating logic, because the art form doesn’t really matter and is only a lame excuse for people who won’t take responsibility and grow up.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Blumenthal hopes to see action on KOSA in the lame-duck session.
    — Lisa Hagen, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of lame
Verb
  • Unfortunately not, because another issue is lurking around the corner.
    — Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • John Willoughby Frank Dillane Dillane’s Willoughby, like Creed-Miles’ Marianne, has more of a darkness lurking beneath.
    — Reshma Gopaldas, IndieWire, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of lurking
Verb
  • The show revolved around Crockett and Tubbs, two undercover detectives infiltrating South Florida’s criminal underworld.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Plus, even if a company isn’t intentionally using your data to train their models, one of their many agents could always go rogue, infiltrating company data and hoovering up individual users’ conversations with their chatbots.
    — Peter Hall, Scientific American, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of infiltrating
Adjective
  • My mom’s siblings usually arrived in a sour mood without greeting anyone at the table, my aunt’s brow furrowed and my uncle wearing a sneaky smirk.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Leaning into bold patterns is a sneaky way to hide wrinkles in your clothing while still allowing your personality to shine through in your travel wardrobe.
    — Merrell Readman, Travel + Leisure, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of sneaky
Adjective
  • But his father, also named William, became a supporter — and even went undercover of sorts at her 2021 fraud trial.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The federal indictment identifies instructions directing undercover Cuban spies not to fly with Brothers to the Rescue around the time of the attack.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of undercover
Adjective
  • In the world of sports broadcasting, ESPN and Buck did Aikman dirty.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Now Gizelle has to decide whether that person is her longtime friend in real life or the woman who has spent the past several seasons doing much of her dirty work.
    — Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of dirty

Browse Nearby Words

sneakiness
sneaking
sneaking up
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Cite this Entry

“Sneaking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sneaking. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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