Meaning & use
sneaker
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Meanings
nouncountable
A soft shoe with a rubber sole, worn for sports or casual wear.
Grammar: Countable: one sneaker, two sneakers. Often used in the plural to mean a pair.
Patterns
- a pair of sneakers
- wear sneakers
- put on sneakers
He bought a new pair of sneakers for running.
She wore white sneakers with her jeans.
These sneakers are too small for me.
nouncountableliteraryrare
A person who moves quietly and secretly, especially to avoid being noticed.
Grammar: Usually used in a literary or humorous way; not common in everyday speech.
Patterns
- a sneaker in the night
The cat was a silent sneaker, creeping through the garden.
In the story, a sneaker slipped past the guards.
Word forms
| plural | sneakers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a pair of sneakers
- I need to buy a new pair of sneakers for the gym.
- white sneakers
- White sneakers go with almost anything.
- running sneakers
- These running sneakers have extra cushioning.
- wear sneakers
- You can wear sneakers to the party; it's casual.
- tennis sneakers
- He packed his tennis sneakers for the trip.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trainer
- The usual British word for the same type of shoe; in American English, sneaker is standard.
- running shoe
- More specific: a shoe designed for running, while sneaker is a general term for casual sports shoes.
- athletic shoe
- A broader, more formal term that includes sneakers and other sports footwear.
Word family
Commonly confused: sneaker or sneaker?
sneaker vs sneaker
Not to be confused with 'snicker', which means a quiet, disrespectful laugh.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'sneaker' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Sneaker is a countable noun for a soft sports shoe, so 'a new pair of sneakers' is correct. 'Her sneaker' is possible but odd because we usually say 'sneakers' for a pair; 'sneaker was delicious' is nonsense; and 'they sneaker' is wrong because sneaker is not a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sneaker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.