1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

sneaked

verb

variants or snuck
past tense of sneak
1
as in lurked
to move about in a sly or secret manner the little kids sneak around upstairs when they're supposed to be in bed

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 sneaked Armstrong even sneaked ahead and pulled off a proper jump scare as himself, pointing out a mirror that created a hiding spot for performers. — Rodney Ho, AJC.com, 18 Sep. 2026 Hutton snuck in a right-footed shot from a narrow angle in the 73rd minute, trimming the lead. — ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026 In 2026, Southlake Carroll snuck into the playoffs with a 6-8 District 4-6A record to preserve a playoff streak started in 1999. — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Sep. 2026 The Euphoria star posed solo on the red carpet ahead of the awards show, while Holland, 30, snuck in behind to enter the Peacock Theater and be by her side. — Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026 By the early Seventies, Biggart had a flourishing commercial photography career, but sometimes snuck away on passion projects. — Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026 Ryan drove the ball into the Gotham penalty area and snuck her shot near the post, beating a diving Gotham goalkeeper. — Spencer Baldwin, Denver Post, 6 Sep. 2026 Recently, sneaker mules snuck into our team group chat—and even Martha Stewart approves. — Essence Wiley, InStyle, 5 Sep. 2026 While Bad Sisters snuck a nuanced portrait of sisterhood into a frantic whodunit, Youth lets its characters steep in the weirdness of ordinary life. — Joy Press, Vanity Fair, 24 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sneaked
  1. lurked
  2. infiltrated
  3. slipped
  4. inserted
  5. slid
  6. stole
Verb
  • Danger lurked in the shady groves of avocado trees that stretched on the mountainsides as far as the eye could see.
    — Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Rhetoric that had lurked in conspiracy-minded corners of the internet was now coming from the federal government itself.
    — Eric Boodman, STAT, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of lurked
Verb
  • Andrew whines about the prattling women who’ve infiltrated his home, firmly establishing that all men are, in fact, terrible.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Subsequent reports revealed that OpenAI’s agents had previously infiltrated twoother websites months before the Hugging Face incident.
    — Washington Post, Washington Post, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of infiltrated
Verb
  • Expedia — Shares of the online travel company slipped about 1% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to underweight.
    — Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Stocks slipped Tuesday after oil prices and the bond market cranked up the pressure on Wall Street.
    — Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of slipped
Verb
  • To beat this issue, the MIT team inserted a razor-thin layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) between two metal electrodes.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 16 Sep. 2026
  • In the meantime, County Supervisor Kathryn Barger has inserted herself into the saga.
    — Lynette Rice, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of inserted
Verb
  • The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims slid to 196,000, the fewest since mid-July and down from 206,000 the week before.
    — Paul Wiseman, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Carter slid inside and Thibodeaux rushed from the edge on third-and-5 late in the first half.
    — Dan Duggan, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of slid
Verb
  • The victim said the assailant then struck his companion in the forehead with the pistol, stole his wallet and ran.
    — Rafael Escalera Montoto, Arkansas Online, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The Retrievals follows an unlikely community of IVF patients who come together to crusade against Yale University after they are operated on without anesthesia — because a nurse (Ryan) stole their fentanyl.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of stole

Browse Nearby Words

sneak
sneaked
sneaked up
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sneaked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sneaked. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of elegiac

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All