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Glite Dictionary
🕵️ To enter secretly 🤫 To add quietly
to sneak in

to sneak in

127 3.8
To go into a place quietly so no one notices
  • phrasal verb
  • /sniːk ɪn/
  • Informal
: colarse
  • They probably snuck in and got stranded or something.
  • try to sneak in
  • sneak back in
  • sneak in here

For too long, immigrants have been sneaking in from Nebraska.

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Examples

  • I sneaked in and hid till she'd finished.

    All About Eve (1950)

  • Well, it's an impenetrable fortress, so we're gonna have to sneak in.

    Smurfs (2025)

  • "You were going to sneak in here and take it without my knowledge.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • I'll sneak in and get something to eat.

    Multiplicity (1996)

  • Sometimes I would sneak in and educate myself.

    Good Mythical Morning

  • I'm gonna try and sneak in tonight.

    Blue Velvet (1986)

  • I still had a key, and I'd head up there, park a block away, and sneak in.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • How were we to know he had found a means of sneaking in?

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Ben stayed for two days, sneaking in and out of the ghetto to steal food for his family.

    Academic text (2011)

  • He decided to sneak in during the movie to avoid paying for a ticket.

Synonyms

to sneak
vsto sneak in
851 2.8

To move or take something quietly so others do not notice

enters places secretly with the goal of avoiding capture or being stopped
to infiltrate
vsto sneak in
131 7.4

To join a group in secret to get information or cause harm

enters secretly but without the special aim of joining or spying for harm
to slip through
vsto sneak in
  • Informal
56 4.2

Pass through something so it is not noticed or stopped

enters a place secretly with intent to avoid being seen or stopped
to steal
vsto sneak in
22 4.3

Move quietly so people do not see or hear you

enters locations secretly rather than just moving quietly elsewhere to avoid notice
to creep in
vsto sneak in
22 4.9

To begin to appear or affect someone slowly and quietly

enters a place secretly in a single act rather than appearing slowly over time
to penetrate
vsto sneak in
16 7.5

Enter a group secretly to get information

enters secretly for any reason, not mainly focused on spying or information gathering
to weasel into
vsto sneak in
  • Informal
3 8.5

To get into a place or group by being sly

enters a place secretly without stressing manipulation or trickery to belong

How Secretly

to slink
26 6.7
to sneak in
  • Informal
127 3.8
to creep in
22 4.9

Surface Forms

sneak in infinitive
sneaked in past
sneaked in past participle
sneaking in present participle
sneaks in third person singular

Morphology

sneak + in

The meaning follows directly from combining 'sneak' (to move or act without being noticed) with 'in' (into/inside), so a learner who knows both words can infer 'to insert or enter secretly' or 'to include without drawing attention.' This verb + particle composition is a common, predictable pattern cross-linguistically, making the expression immediately understandable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Sneak in: The phrasal verb sneak in comes from the image of someone moving very quietly, to sneak, and slipping in through a door or gate so nobody notices them. That's why it means 'to enter secretly'.