busybody

[biz-ee-bod-ee]

See more synonyms for busybody on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural bus·y·bod·ies.

a person who pries into or meddles in the affairs of others.

Origin of busybody

First recorded in 1520–30; busy + body

Synonyms for busybody

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snoop, pry, meddler, Nosy Parker; gossip, blabbermouth.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for busybody

buttinsky, rubberneck, meddler, snoop, eavesdropper, snooper, fink, intruder, gossip, tattletale, troublemaker, scandalmonger, yenta, newsmonger, fussbudget

Examples from the Web for busybody

Historical Examples of busybody

Bessie is bigger than I am, but she isn't a busybody at all.
Harper's Young People, June 15, 1880
Various
Maria is the only one that knows, and she says I'm a busybody.
Harper's Young People, June 15, 1880
Various
Some busybody has been reporting my conduct on a certain day.
Under Western Eyes
Joseph Conrad
You will give our friends here the impression that I am a busybody.
Marjorie Dean, College Sophomore
Pauline Lester
You'd have married me last fall if some busybody hadn't filled your ears with scandal.
Quin
Alice Hegan Rice

British Dictionary definitions for busybody

busybody

noun plural -bodies

a meddlesome, prying, or officious person

Derived Formsbusybodying, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for busybody

"meddlesome person," 1520s, from busy (adj.) in the otherwise-obsolete sense "prying, meddlesome" + body "person."