Sneak vs Secret - What's the difference?
sneak | secret |
One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.
A cheat; a con artist; a trickster
An informer; a tell-tale.
(obsolete, cricket) A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; a daisy-cutter
To creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen.
To take something stealthily without permission.
(dated) To hide, especially in a mean or cowardly manner.
* Wake
(informal, especially with on) To inform an authority about another's misdemeanours; to tell tales; to grass.
In advance; before release to the general public.
In a stealthy or surreptitious manner.
(countable, uncountable) Knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)
, volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= * Rambler
(uncountable) Something not understood or known.
* Milton
(archaic, in the plural) The genital organs.
Being or kept hidden.
* Bible, Deuteronomy xxix. 29
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
, title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=1 (obsolete) Withdrawn from general intercourse or notice; in retirement or secrecy; secluded.
* Fenton
(obsolete) Faithful to a secret; not inclined to divulge or betray confidence; secretive.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) Separate; distinct.
* Cudworth
To make or keep secret.
* 1984 , Peter Scott Lawrence,
* 1986 ,
* 1994 , Phyllis Granoff & Koichi Shinohara,
Tagged as ''obsolete''. Notes: “In the inflected forms it is not easy to distinguish between ?''secret'' and [http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50218071 secrete ''v. ” * “
'''Se"cret (?), v. t. To keep secret. [Obs. ''Bacon .
In lang=en terms the difference between sneak and secret
is that sneak is (informal, especially with on) to inform an authority about another's misdemeanours; to tell tales; to grass while secret is to make or keep secret.As nouns the difference between sneak and secret
is that sneak is one who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information while secret is (countable|uncountable) knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden.As verbs the difference between sneak and secret
is that sneak is to creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen while secret is to make or keep secret.As adjectives the difference between sneak and secret
is that sneak is in advance; before release to the general public while secret is being or kept hidden.sneak
English
Noun
(en noun)- My little brother is such a sneak - yesterday I caught him trying to look through my diary.
- I can't believe I gave that sneak $50 for a ticket when they were selling for $20 at the front gate.
Verb
- He decided to sneak into the kitchen for a second cookie while his mom was on the phone.
- I went to sneak a chocolate but my dad caught me.
- [Slander] sneaks its head.
- If you sneak on me I'll bash you!
Usage notes
* The past and past participle snuck'' is primarily found in North American English, where it originated in the late 19th century as a dialectal form. It is still regarded as informal by some, but its use appears to be increasing in frequency and acceptability. It is occasionally found in British and Australian/Hiberno-English, too, though regarded as an American form. (SeeOxford Dictionaries, ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage'', ''Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary'', ''Webster's New World College Dictionary .) * To sneak'' (take) something is not the same as to ''steal'' something. In this sense, ''sneak'' typically implies trying to avoid a supervisor's or guardian's mild displeasure or mild discipline, while ''steal indicates a more serious action and often the person stealing does not know the owner of the item being stolen.
Derived terms
* sneaker * sneaky * sneakily * sneakiness * sneak peek * sneak preview * sneak thief * sneak away * sneak in * sneak off * sneak out * sneak up/sneak up on * sneak aroundAdjective
(-)- The company gave us a sneak look at their new electronic devices.
- I was able to get a sneak peek at the guest list.
Derived terms
* sneak peek * sneak previewAnagrams
* * English irregular verbssecret
English
Noun
Obama's once hip brand is now tainted, passage=Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets , spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.}}
- To tell our secrets is often folly; to communicate those of others is treachery.
- All secrets of the deep, all nature's works.
Synonyms
* (l)Derived terms
* family secret * in secret * keep secret * open secret * Oxford secret * secretist * state secret * top secret * trade secret * Victoria's SecretAdjective
(en adjective)- The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us.
citation, passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.}}
- secret in her sapphire cell
- Secret Romans, that have spoke the word, / And will not palter.
- They suppose two other divine hypostases superior thereunto, which were perfectly secret from matter.
Alternative forms
* secrette (obsolete)Synonyms
* private * dern * confidential * concealedAntonyms
* overtDerived terms
* secret admirer * secret agent * secret ballot * secret code * secret partner * secret police * * secret Santa * secret service * secret society * secret writing * secretive * secretly * secretness * unsecretVerb
Around the mulberry tree, Firefly Books, p. 26
- [...] she would unfold the silk, press it with a smooth wooden block that she'd heated in the oven, and then once more secret it away.
InfoWorld, InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.
- Diskless workstations [...] make it difficult for individuals to copy information [...] onto a diskette and secret it away.
Monks and magicians: religious biographies in Asia, Mosaic Press, p. 50
- To prevent the elixir from reaching mankind and thereby upsetting the balance of the universe, two gods secret it away.
Usage notes
* All other dictionaries label this sense 'obsolete', but the citations above and on the citations page demonstrate recent usage as part of the idiom "secret [something] away". * The present participle and past forms secreting and secreted are liable to confusion with the corresponding heteronymous forms of the similar verb secrete.Quotations
*Derived terms
* secreteReferences
* “†?secret, v.'']” listed in the '''' [2nd Ed.; 1989]
Tagged as ''obsolete''. Notes: “In the inflected forms it is not easy to distinguish between ?''secret'' and [http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50218071 secrete ''v. ” * “
Se"cret' (?), v. t.]” listed on [http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.page.sh?page=1301 page 1,301]of '''' (1913)
'''Se"cret (?), v. t. To keep secret. [Obs. ''Bacon .