“He snuck out the back — that's wrong.”
Usage Entry 1148 / 1350 60-second read
Sneaked vs. Snuck
Traditional versus widely accepted past of SNEAK.
The comparisoni
“He snuck out the back — or "sneaked." Both are now standard in US English; UK editors still prefer "sneaked."”
The ruleii
¶
Both OK; US: SNUCK acceptable. UK: SNEAKED standard.
SNUCK emerged as a colloquial American past tense by analogy with STUCK and has become fully standard in US usage. British editors still prefer SNEAKED for formal prose.
Memory aidiii
Remember it like this
US: snuck. UK: sneaked.