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sneaky

/ˈsniːki/adjective, noun

sneaky is spelled S-N-E-A-K-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, sneaky means “Elusive; difficult to capture or observe due to constantly outwitting the adversaries” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in sneaky?

Letters6: S-N-E-A-K-Y
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.3 times per million words; the 14,509th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is sneaky?

Sneaky appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce sneaky?

  • /ˈsniːki/

Sneaky has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sneaky.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of sneaky

  • sneakier comparative
  • sneakiest superlative
  • sneakies plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does sneaky mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Elusive; difficult to capture or observe due to constantly outwitting the adversaries.

    Catching those thieves will be hard: they're so sneaky!

  2. 2

    Dishonest; deceitful.

    They played a sneaky trick on us.

noun

  1. 1

    slangAny device used for covert surveillance.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Sneaky in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfurtif, insaisissable (difficult to catch due to constantly outwitting…), fourbe, sournois (dishonest; deceitful)
Germanraffiniert (difficult to catch due to constantly outwitting…), duckmäuserig, hinterhältig (dishonest; deceitful)
Portuguesemalandro, esquivo (difficult to catch due to constantly outwitting…)
Spanishescurridizo (difficult to catch due to constantly outwitting…), marrullero, taimado (dishonest; deceitful)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does sneaky come from?

From sneak + -y.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after sneaky