Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sneak

/sniːk/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.99 in modern English

Syllables
sneak
IPA
/sniːk/
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

noun

The act of sneaking

noun

A cheat; a con artist.

noun

An informer; a tell-tale.

noun

A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; a daisy-cutter

Obsolete

noun

A sneaker; a tennis shoe.

American usage

noun

A play where the quarterback receives the snap and immediately dives forward.

Example Sentences

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. Cognate with Danish snige (“to sneak”), Swedish snika (“to sneak, hanker after”), Icelandic sníkja (“to sneak, hanker after”). Possibly related to snitch.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: sniken, snīcan, *snīkan, *snīkaną

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

covert move slowly

Synonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce sneak?
The recorded pronunciation is /sniːk/.
What does sneak mean?
One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.
Where does sneak come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce sneak

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “sneak”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/sniːk/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “sneak”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “sneak” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.