Sneaky

//ˈsniːki// adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1
Any device used for covert surveillance. slang
"[…] in cooperation with the National Security Agency, installs and maintains "sneakies" throughout the U.S.S.R. and Communist China — but increasingly, denied areas are surveyed more simply."

Adjective

1
Elusive; difficult to capture or observe due to constantly outwitting the adversaries.
"Catching those thieves will be hard: they're so sneaky!"
2
Dishonest; deceitful.
"They played a sneaky trick on us."

Adjective

1
marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed wordnet
2
marked by deception wordnet

Synonyms

surreptitious crafty cunning slippery sly underhanded

Antonyms

Example

"No matter how sneaky you are, you can never surprise yourself."

Etymology

From sneak + -y.

Related phrases

sneaky Pete sneaky beak sneaky beaky sneaky fucker strategy sneaky link sneaky suspicion sneaky-deaky

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.