a person who is regarded as underhanded and furtive and contemptible
someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions
someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police
Adjective:
marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed;"a furtive manner" "a sneak attack" "stealthy footsteps" "a surreptitious glance at his watch"
Verb:
to go stealthily or furtively;"..stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor"s house"
put, bring, or take in a secretive or furtive manner;"sneak a look" "sneak a cigarette"
make off with belongings of others
pass on stealthily;"He slipped me the key when nobody was looking"
1550s (implied in sneakish), perhaps from some dialectal survival of Middle English sniken "to creep, crawl" (c. 1200), related to Old English snican "to sneak along, creep, crawl," from Proto-Germanic *sneikanan, which is related to the root of snake (n.). Of feelings, suspicions, etc., from 1748. Transitive sense, "to partake of surreptitiously" is from 1883. Related: Sneaking. Sneak-thief first recorded 1859; sneak-preview is from 1938.
sneak (n.)
"a sneaking person; mean, contemptible fellow," 1640s, from sneak (v.).
