1
as in shady
given to acting in secret and to concealing one's intentions
his opponent's sneaky campaign manager was clearly up to something
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sneak
undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others
a sneaky plan to replace the priceless painting with a copy
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sneaky
Davis is a sneaky player stashed deep on the depth chart.
—
Saad Yousuf, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
There is nothing sneaky about a 40-inch vertical jump; 39.5 this guy just jumped.
—Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 24 Apr. 2025
One that’s sneaky smart is choosing our first singles off an upcoming project.
—Justin Curto, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
Fifth-round pick Jordan Hancock could be a sneaky option to start down the line, too.
—Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sneaky
Saad Yousuf, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
There is nothing sneaky about a 40-inch vertical jump; 39.5 this guy just jumped.
—Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 24 Apr. 2025
One that’s sneaky smart is choosing our first singles off an upcoming project.
—Justin Curto, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
Fifth-round pick Jordan Hancock could be a sneaky option to start down the line, too.
—Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sneaky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sneaky
Adjective
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Gates has three ecosystems on her quarter-acre: a sunny front yard, a shady back plot and a small wetland garden on one side.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
16 May 2025
-
The fear this instills in I-Jing — already ignored by her busy mother, nor attended to by her mercurial older sister, I-Ann, who holds a grudge against her mother and rebels by working at a shady betel nut stand — sets off a secrets-unearthing chain of events.—
Ritesh Mehta,
IndieWire,
14 May 2025
Adjective
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Meanwhile, Adebayo has continued to support Wilson with sly social media posts.—
Jordana Comiter,
People.com,
26 Apr. 2025
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The boisterous comedian lights up the stage with sly wit and brazen confidence, conveying Moss’ righteous fury over being bottom of the office food chain.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The Gestapo, Hitler’s secret police, combed the Poles’ ranks in search of men with experience in clandestine resistance organizations.—
Paul Hockenos,
Smithsonian Magazine,
8 May 2025
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Alongside the harbour in Lerwick are five fishing boats, once part of the clandestine Anglo-Norwegian Shetland Bus mission, and the wartime cargo ship Hestmanden.—
Heather Farmbrough,
Forbes.com,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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Blackbird and Void are stealthier types, with the former taking on recon duties to reveal enemy locations and the latter capable of turning invisible and shrouding the squad in smoke.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
2 May 2025
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As all the attention is being paid to President Donald Trump’s tariff policies that create international chaos and whip global markets into a frenzy, a stealthy change has emerged.—
Jack Kelly,
Forbes.com,
16 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Samuel French, a Texas actor on the rise who portrayed the undercover FBI agent CJ Robinson in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, has died.—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2025
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Pisano has been with the show since his 2021 debut as undercover officer Detective Joe Velasco.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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That includes Tom Cruise, as covert CIA division agent Ethan Hunt, riding a motorcycle off a 4,000-foot cliff and BASE jumping the final 500 feet of a ravine, or the breathless climactic train mayhem in 2023’s Dead Reckoning, the opening installment of this two-parter.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
14 May 2025
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In an opinion piece published by the Venezuelan independent newspaper La Razón, former lawmaker Omar González Moreno recounted the covert mission that freed him and four others without a single shot being fired.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
12 May 2025
Adjective
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Earlier this year, researchers announced the discovery of a brick underground aqueduct in Slovakia.—
Sonja Anderson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
12 May 2025
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This would suggest pockets of water in deep underground aquifers.—
Victoria Corless,
Space.com,
12 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sneaky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sneaky. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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