busybody
Americannoun
-
busybodies
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of busybody
Explanation
A busybody is a nosy, meddling person, who's very interested in what other people say and do. If you're a busybody, you can't help offering advice to friends, whether they want it or not. Busybodies are known for trying to help with situations in which they're not necessarily welcome or needed. You could describe your mom as a busybody if she asks prying questions and tries to orchestrate your romantic life. The word busybody comes from a now-obsolete meaning of busy, "prying" or "meddlesome."
Vocabulary lists containing busybody
With the Fire on High
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"Oedipus the King" by Sophocles
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The Book of Unknown Americans
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That was all fine for Graham: He got his fix with bonus cable-news bookings and participated in some debates, and then—phew!—was able to return to being a busybody in the Senate.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
The movie doesn’t quite know how to handle Mabel: She’s meant to be charmingly determined but comes across as more of a scold and a busybody.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
But Julie seems a victim here of Hedda’s artillery rather than a busybody relative anxious to extend the family line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
Elizabeth Kelly, best known for playing busybody Nellie Ellis in EastEnders, died peacefully in Scarborough on 31 December, her agent Scott Marshall Partners said.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026
“Don’t know the manners of good society, eh?” he says to the character of the busybody, Mrs. Mountchessington, who has insulted him before exiting the stage.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
The nomination process essentially officializes gossip, as various local busybodies suggest women based on hearsay about them and their families.
From New York Times ● Apr. 30, 2024
Apparently, other parents decided they didn't want these busybodies telling them how to educate or raise their kids so they ran against them and won.
From Salon ● Nov. 10, 2023
This particular Planned Parenthood is where high school girls in my town would go if they needed birth control and didn’t want any busybodies ratting them out if they were spotted at the local clinic.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 27, 2023
But as we settle in for the long haul of self-isolating to fight the coronavirus outbreak, neighborhood busybodies are also feeling empowered, and now they’re a whole new species: They’ve got science on their side.
From Slate ● Apr. 1, 2020
A bunch of dead busybodies who knew nothing about him and what he could handle, what he handled every day without complaint.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
