A footwear with a flexible sole made of rubber or synthetic material and an upper part made of leather or canvas. The British English equivalent of "sneaker" in its modern meaning is "trainer", while the traditional "sneaker" is closer to the British "plimsoll". The name "sneakers" originally referred to how quiet the rubber soles were on the ground, in contrast to noisy standard hard leather soled dress shoes. Someone wearing sneakers could "sneak up" on you.
