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Sneak vs Surreptitious - What's the difference?

sneak | surreptitious |

As adjectives the difference between sneak and surreptitious

is that sneak is in advance; before release to the general public while surreptitious is stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert (especially movements).

As a noun sneak

is one who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.

As a verb 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.

sneak

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.
    • My little brother is such a sneak - yesterday I caught him trying to look through my diary.
  • A cheat; a con artist; a trickster
    • I can't believe I gave that sneak $50 for a ticket when they were selling for $20 at the front gate.
  • An informer; a tell-tale.
  • (obsolete, cricket) A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; a daisy-cutter

    • Verb

  • To creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen.
    • He decided to sneak into the kitchen for a second cookie while his mom was on the phone.
  • To take something stealthily without permission.
    • I went to sneak a chocolate but my dad caught me.
  • (dated) To hide, especially in a mean or cowardly manner.
  • * Wake
    • [Slander] sneaks its head.
  • (informal, especially with on) To inform an authority about another's misdemeanours; to tell tales; to grass.
    • 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. (See Oxford 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 around

    Adjective

    (-)
  • In advance; before release to the general public.
    • The company gave us a sneak look at their new electronic devices.
  • In a stealthy or surreptitious manner.
    • I was able to get a sneak peek at the guest list.

    Derived terms

    * sneak peek * sneak preview

    Anagrams

    * * English irregular verbs

    surreptitious

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Stealth]]y, furtive, [[hidden, well hidden, covert (especially movements).
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
    • , chapter=1 citation , passage=He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.}}

    Synonyms

    *

    Derived terms

    * surreptitiously