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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Recent Examples of sneaky
But defensive back, specifically corner, could be a sneaky need this offseason.
—
Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
The Texas coach also reached into his bag of tricks with a nifty 19-yard run for a first down by Manning on a sneaky direct snap in the first half.
—Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 1 Jan. 2026
Isnard doesn’t rely on sneaky coffee cup tests or trick questions to assess character.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 22 Dec. 2025
Ewedoos Wide Leg Stretchy Dress Pants The best dress pants feel like leggings, and this polished pair of wide-leg trousers delivers both sophistication and sneaky comfort.
—Mariana Best, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sneaky
Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
The Texas coach also reached into his bag of tricks with a nifty 19-yard run for a first down by Manning on a sneaky direct snap in the first half.
—Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 1 Jan. 2026
Isnard doesn’t rely on sneaky coffee cup tests or trick questions to assess character.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 22 Dec. 2025
Ewedoos Wide Leg Stretchy Dress Pants The best dress pants feel like leggings, and this polished pair of wide-leg trousers delivers both sophistication and sneaky comfort.
—Mariana Best, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sneaky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sneaky
Adjective
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Move the plants to a shady, sheltered outdoor spot for increasing lengths of time each day, over a period of seven to 14 days.—
Kerry Michaels,
The Spruce,
21 Jan. 2026
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Trees can increase residential property value by 10 percent or more and attract new businesses, residents, and tourism by providing shady and more inviting walkways and parking lots.—
Richard Mason,
Arkansas Online,
18 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Get Ready: Katy Perry Has Released a Sneak Peek of Her New Song And the internet has receipts.—
Mehera Bonner,
Marie Claire,
15 Mar. 2017
Adjective
-
Via a sly, clever and potent allegory, the English singer-songwriter, who is trans, depicts the world of a vibrant but vilified cryptid community that finally rises up in the face of prejudice — not to attack, but simply to exist.—
Joe Lynch,
Billboard,
16 Jan. 2026
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He's egged on by owner Jonathan Yu—the outward opposite to the roguish tattooed chef and the game-for-anything, sly devil on his shoulder who hides a mischievous heart behind elegant suits.—
Su-Jit Lin,
Southern Living,
15 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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To create this unique cinematic experience, Stewart and Poots endured rigorous trial-and-error shoots, tough training days in clandestine New York pool houses.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
13 Jan. 2026
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Saimar Rivas, Armas’s partner and a longtime civil-rights activist, told me that he had been taken to a clandestine site run by the SEBIN, Venezuela’s intelligence agency.—
Stephania Taladrid,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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According to The War Zone, shortly after the cargo ship was first spotted with containerized missile systems, large stealthy drones resembling collaborative combat aircraft were seen positioned nearby on the dock.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Jan. 2026
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These stealthy insects are expert hitchhikers.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
25 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Nine years after foiling a lucrative weapons tradeoff and delivering Roper to Syrian captors, Pine has gone undercover again, eventually reuniting with foreign investigator Angela Burr (Colman) as an MI6 operative.—
Jake Kring-Schreifels,
Time,
9 Jan. 2026
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Can the Faithfuls work together or will the Traitors go undercover and pick off the Faithfuls one by one?—
Christopher Kuhagen,
jsonline.com,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Danish media reported that at least three people with connections to Trump carried out covert influence operations in Greenland.—
Emma Burrows,
Fortune,
10 Jan. 2026
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Federal statute mandates the president inform a bipartisan group of eight, high-ranking members of Congress prior to particularly covert operations.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The basement appears to allow for emergency backup generators, sprinkler systems, communications cabling and showers, suggesting that officials could remain underground for extended periods, potentially to operate or monitor equipment.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
14 Jan. 2026
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Produced by Mazzarri, the track beat is built on raptor house, a high-energy, underground electronic genre created by Dj Babatr in the barrios of Caracas at the turn of the millenia.—
Leonor C. Suárez,
Rolling Stone,
13 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sneaky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sneaky. Accessed 23 Jan. 2026.
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