Sneaky

How to spell sneaky

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce sneaky

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does sneaky mean?

1. adjectiveActing or done in a quiet, secretive way, often to deceive or to avoid being noticed.

Sneaky in a sentence

• The manager had a sneaky way of checking everyone's hours without telling them.

• The children took a sneaky glance at the wrapped presents while their parents were out.

Where does sneaky come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This adjective is built on the verb 'sneak', which first appears in English in the late 1500s with the meaning 'to creep or move in a furtive, stealthy way'. The origin of 'sneak' is not entirely settled, though it is most often linked to the Old English verb 'snican', meaning 'to creep or crawl', and it sits in the same family of words as 'snake', the creature that famously slides along the ground unseen. Once 'sneak' was established, the simple adjective suffix '-y', meaning 'having the quality of', was attached to give 'sneaky', describing behaviour that is quietly underhanded or deceitful. The figurative sense of being slyly dishonest grew naturally out of the literal idea of moving so as not to be noticed. Because the word is short and phonetically regular, the only real spelling decision is the long 'ea' vowel in the middle, which echoes its likely ancestor 'snican'.

How the word is built

• sneak (to move stealthily)
• -y (adjective suffix forming 'characterised by')