sneak up
Silently draw near
To sneak up is to approach stealthily, usually to surprise or catch someone unaware: She snuck up behind him and covered his eyes.
The phrase extends to things that arrive gradually without notice: Old age sneaks up on you.
Deadlines, feelings, and realizations all sneak up when they seem to come faster than expected.
- creep upApproach gradually, unnoticed
- on tiptoeWalking on ball-feet
- tiptoeWalk on foot-fronts
- prowlRoam stealthily
- approachWay of handling something
slink · ambush · startle · pounce · catch off guard · blindside · surprise · infiltrate · under the radar · lurk · stalk · close in · cat burglar · glide · lie in wait · sidle · furtive · inch
- surprise attacksambush, blindside, catch off guard, pounce, raid
- warrior danceswar dance, sword dance, victory dance, Cossack dance, hopak