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"Snuck" is the informal American English past tense of "sneak"; "sneaked" is the traditional correct form in both varieties.
Side-by-side comparison
"Sneaked" is the regular past tense and the standard form in formal and British English. If you are writing in a professional or academic context, use "sneaked".
The kids snuck downstairs at midnight to see if Santa had left any presents.
He snuck a piece of cake when nobody was looking.
She snuck out of the meeting early to catch her flight.
"Snuck" is the irregular past tense, very common in informal American English. In everyday contexts in the United States, "snuck" is perfectly acceptable and natural.
The spy sneaked past the guards and reached the control room undetected.
He sneaked a look at the answers when the teacher turned away.
They sneaked backstage after the concert and met the entire band.
Common mistake
- •"Snuck" is perfectly normal in everyday American conversation, but in British English it sounds extremely informal or incorrect.
- •In formal writing (academic, journalism, legal documents) of any variety, "sneaked" remains the preferred form.
Trick to remember it
- •Context: everyday American conversation = "snuck" is natural (follows the stuck/struck pattern).
- •Formal writing or British English = always use "sneaked." When in doubt, "sneaked" works in all contexts.
Quick rule
- •"Snuck" = informal AmE (everyday conversation).
- •"Sneaked" = formal and BrE (academic writing, journalism, British English).
Did you know?
SNUCK is first documented in American dialects around 1887. For over a century, style guides flagged it as incorrect or substandard. But popular usage won: today Merriam-Webster, the American Heritage Dictionary, and The Chicago Manual of Style all accept SNUCK as informal standard in American English. It is a perfect example of how massive colloquial usage can change the standard over time. The process by which SNEAK adopted the irregular form SNUCK is called "morphological analogy": speakers assimilated SNEAK to the productive pattern of verbs like STICK/STUCK and STRIKE/STRUCK, creating a new irregular form by analogy.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
She _____ into the cinema without paying. The side door was unlocked.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
The children _____ downstairs in the middle of the night to see if Santa had come.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
'Burned' is the standard past tense in American English; 'burnt' is preferred in British English and as an adjective.
'Gotten' is the American past participle of 'get'; 'got' is the British past participle and the simple past in both varieties.
"Above" is at a higher level without contact; "over" implies covering, movement, or crossing.
'Currently' means 'at the present time'; 'actually' means 'in reality', not 'nowadays'.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy