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
Its durability is in large part due to Wilde’s sneaky indictment of the repressive culture that forced Dorian to keep his true self hidden, locked away in a closet.
—
Samantha Allen, Them., 7 Oct. 2025
The character had a sneaky pathos.
—Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
Seattle isn’t flashy but is solid, sneaky good, with the second-best points differential in the NFL and Sam Darnold-to-Jaxon Smith-Njigba an unheralded-but-potent hookup.
—Miami Herald, 24 Sep. 2025
Get peace of mind during your travels with these sneaky luggage protection hacks.
—Merrell Readman, Travel + Leisure, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sneaky
Samantha Allen, Them., 7 Oct. 2025
The character had a sneaky pathos.
—Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
Seattle isn’t flashy but is solid, sneaky good, with the second-best points differential in the NFL and Sam Darnold-to-Jaxon Smith-Njigba an unheralded-but-potent hookup.
—Miami Herald, 24 Sep. 2025
Get peace of mind during your travels with these sneaky luggage protection hacks.
—Merrell Readman, Travel + Leisure, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sneaky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sneaky
Adjective
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Place your propane tank in a mostly shady location a few feet from your house.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
7 Nov. 2025
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Next comes the fun of trying to reform the civil service with shady Blaine fighting them at every turn.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
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
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This Disney Channel film includes many sly jokes about Hollywood and stars like Mickey Rooney.—
Keith Langston,
PEOPLE,
27 Oct. 2025
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Gigi Zumbado is a sly scene-stealer as Ceci, the department’s relatively cool and confident and young photographer, but hasn’t been given much to do besides snark from the sidelines.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The 16-month plot to bribe Maduro’s chief pilot illustrates how Washington pairs clandestine operations with military power to destabilize the regime while projecting strategic pressure in the region.—
Amir Daftari,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Oct. 2025
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In exchange, the agent told the pilot in a clandestine meeting, the aviator would be made a very rich man.—
Joshua Goodman,
Fortune,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Fixed with a seemingly permanent half-smile — detractors called it a smirk — Cheney joked about his outsize reputation as a stealthy manipulator.—
Calvin Woodward,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
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The gel was doing its work—its stealthy reconstruction of skin cells and follicles and mental states.—
James Marcus,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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In the comedy's newest installment, which arrives a year after the series first premiered, Charles is assigned with helping Wheeler College president Jack Berenger (Max Greenfield) crack a case and must go undercover as a college professor, per a synopsis from Netflix.—
Brenton Blanchet,
PEOPLE,
4 Nov. 2025
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In it, viewers meet Petraitis as Andrius, who is in undercover mode; Baroti as Laima; Kasperavicius as Mykolas; and Augustaitis as Rytis.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Friday the incident and the recent air incursion linked to Moscow show Kremlin plans for covert and overt attacks against Europe to prepare for a possible NATO-Russia war.—
Brendan Cole,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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The device is intended for intelligent underwater detection, real-time environmental monitoring, and potentially covert reconnaissance missions worldwide.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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But the secret underground cave that seems like the perfect place to be alone is already occupied by another fuzzy, lonely creature named Mi.—
Caroline Carlson,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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His urge to address religious subjects made his work largely unperformable, except in underground contexts such as the Riga discothèque.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sneaky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sneaky. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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