# sneak

> English word · Noun · IPA /sniːk/ · frequency rank #7,287

## Definitions
1. One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.
2. The act of sneaking
3. A cheat; a con artist.
4. An informer; a tell-tale.
5. A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; a daisy-cutter
6. A sneaker; a tennis shoe.
7. A play where the quarterback receives the snap and immediately dives forward.
8. Ellipsis of sneak preview

## 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”), 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.

## Easily confused with
- **soak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-soak)
- **SNES** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-snes)
- **speak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-speak)
- **steam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-steam)
- **swear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-swear)
- **steal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-steal)
- **sweat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-sweat)
- **steak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-steak)
- **spear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-spear)
- **snuck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-snuck)
- **stead** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-stead)
- **speck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-speck)
- **snell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-snell)
- **sneer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-sneer)
- **speaks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-speaks)
- **streak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-streak)
- **sneaky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-sneaky)
- **steaks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-steaks)
- **squeak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-squeak)
- **sneaker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-sneaker)

## Common misspellings (6)
`nseak`, `senak`, `sneakk`, `sneka`, `snneak`, `ssneak`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sneak