ENGLISH
REFERENCE

snooping

v.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈsnupɪŋ// UK //snˈuːpɪŋ// snoop·ing

v. looking around a place or through someone's things in a secret way. You usually do this to find information that is not your business.

v. investigating or looking around stealthily, typically to find private information or secrets. Often carries a negative connotation of invading privacy.


SIMPLE

I caught him snooping around my desk this morning.

CONTEXTUAL

She suspected her roommate was snooping through her private emails while she was out of the room.

COMPLEX

The investigation revealed that several employees had been snooping into confidential client files without any professional justification or authorization.

Synonyms
Usage

The verb is intransitive and often takes the preposition 'around', 'through', or 'into'.

Pitfall

he was snooping my phonehe was snooping through my phoneSnooping is intransitive and requires a preposition like 'through' or 'into' before the object being searched.

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