sneaky

English

Etymology

From sneak +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsniːki/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːki

Adjective

sneaky (comparative sneakier, superlative sneakiest)

1. Elusive; difficult to capture or observe due to constantly outwitting the adversaries.

   Catching those thieves will be hard: they're so sneaky!

   • 1995 April, Jeff Csatari, “Tackle Tips”, in Boys' Life, volume 85, number 4, Irving, Texas: Boy Scouts of America, Inc., →ISSN, page 42:

     Be sneaky. Fish frighten easily.

2. Dishonest; deceitful.

   They played a sneaky trick on us.

Synonyms

• slippery
• evasive, dodgy

Derived terms

• sneakily
• sneakiness
• sneaky beak
• sneaky beaky
• sneaky-deaky
• sneaky fucker strategy
• sneaky link
• sneaky Pete
• sneaky suspicion

 

Related terms

• sneak

Translations

difficult to catch due to constantly outwitting the adversaries

• Belarusian: хітры (be) (xitry)
• Bulgarian: таен (bg) (taen), скрит (bg) (skrit)
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: ovela (fi)
• French: furtif (fr), insaisissable (fr)
• German: raffiniert (de)
• Italian: furtivo (it), sfuggevole, sfuggente (it)
• Latvian: zaglīgs
• Macedonian: лукав (lukav)
• Middle English: sleighty
• Portuguese: malandro (pt), esquivo (pt) m
• Russian: хитрый (ru) m (xitryj), изворотливый (ru) m (izvorotlivyj)
• Spanish: escurridizo
• Turkish: sofistike (tr)

dishonest; deceitful

• Belarusian: баязлівы (bajazlivy)
• Bulgarian: подъл (bg) (podǎl)
• Dutch: geniepig (nl), gluiperig (nl)
• Finnish: petollinen (fi), epärehellinen (fi), luihu (fi)
• French: fourbe (fr), sournois (fr)
• German: duckmäuserig, hinterhältig (de)
• Hungarian: álnok (hu), alattomos (hu), sunyi (hu)
• Italian: disonesto (it), malandrino (it), mancino (it), spione (it) m, subdolo (it)
• Jamaican Creole: jim-screechy
• Latin: perfidus
• Macedonian: подмолен (podmolen)
• Portuguese: malandro (pt)
• Russian: по́длый (ru) (pódlyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: podmukao (sh) m
• Spanish: marrullero (es)
• Turkish: sinsi (tr)
• Walloon: sournwès (wa) m

Further reading

• “sneaky”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “sneaky”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Noun

sneaky (plural sneakies)

1. (espionage, slang) Any device used for covert surveillance.
   • 1974, Miles Copeland, Without cloak or dagger: the truth about the new espionage, page 244:

     […] 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.

   • 1991, Chapman Pincher, The Truth about Dirty Tricks:

     […] has used travellers to plant 'sneakies' - small electronic transmitting devices which form part of a surveillance network.

Anagrams

• Kaysen, Sankey, Yankes, snakey

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English sneaky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsni.ki/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: snea‧ky

Adjective

sneaky (not comparable)

1. (informal) sneaky, in an elusive way.

Inflection

Declension of sneaky
uninflected	sneaky
inflected	sneaky
comparative	sneakyer
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		sneaky	sneakyer	het sneakyst het sneakyste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	sneaky	sneakyere	sneakyste
	n. sing.	sneaky	sneakyer	sneakyste
	plural	sneaky	sneakyere	sneakyste
definite		sneaky	sneakyere	sneakyste
partitive		sneaky's	sneakyers	—