sneak up

verb

To approach a person or animal without being seen or heard

“The weekend sneaked up on me.”

Similar
creep up
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Meanings

verbsneak up (third-person singular simple present sneaks up, present participle sneaking up, simple past and past participle sneaked up or (chiefly US, informal) snuck up)

present singular third person sneaks up · participle present sneaking up · participle past sneaked up · past sneaked up · US informal participle past snuck up · US informal past snuck up · alternative sneak up on

  1. To approach a person or animal without being seen or heard

    If you sneak up from behind like that, you'll give me a heart attack!

  2. To deliver a sudden effect, often unexpectedly and without warning.

    The weekend sneaked up on me.

    1 more example

    Watch out for that brown liquor. It sneaks up on you quickly.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbadvance stealthily or unnoticed

Similar
creep up
Broader
advanceprogresspass on
Also see
creep up

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 偷偷走近
  • 偷偷走近to sneak up on
German sich anschleichen
  • sich anschleichento sneak up on
Latin obrēpō, subeō
  • obrēpōto sneak up on
  • subeōto sneak up on
Polish skradać się
  • skradać sięto sneak up on
Spanish acercarse sigilosamente
  • acercarse sigilosamenteto sneak up on
Ukrainian підкрадатися
  • підкрадатися (pidkradatysja)to sneak up on
Cite this entry
APA

sneak up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sneak%20up

MLA

“sneak up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sneak%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sneak up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sneak%20up.

Source: sneak up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.