Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

nosey

[noh-zee]
See more synonyms for nosey on Thesaurus.com
adjective, nos·i·er, nos·i·est.
  1. nosy.
Show More

nosy

or nos·ey

[noh-zee]
adjective, nos·i·er, nos·i·est.
  1. unduly curious about the affairs of others; prying; meddlesome.
Show More

Origin of nosy

First recorded in 1880–85; nose + -y1
Related formsnos·i·ly, adverbnos·i·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for nosey

Historical Examples

  • Nosey Murphy hesitated and looked to the Maltese Cockney for counsel.

    The Mutiny of the Elsinore

    Jack London

  • Remember that fight he had with Nosey, last winter he was with Bashford?

    Pippin; A Wandering Flame

    Laura E. Richards

  • Why should not Nosey Bashford like to watch her as well as you?

    Pippin; A Wandering Flame

    Laura E. Richards

  • I'd broke Nosey's beak for him long before that, fightin' when we was kids.

    Pippin; A Wandering Flame

    Laura E. Richards

  • You are too nosey and you talk too damn much with your mouth!

British Dictionary definitions for nosey

nosey

adjective
  1. a variant spelling of nosy
Show More

nosy

nosey

adjective nosier or nosiest
  1. informal prying or inquisitive
Show More
Derived Formsnosily, adverbnosiness, 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 nosey

adj.

see nosy.

Show More

nosy

adj.

also nosey, 1610s, "having a prominent nose," from nose (n.) + -y (2). Earlier in this sense was nasee (mid-14c.), from Anglo-French, from Old French nasé, ultimately from Latin nasus "nose." Sense of "inquisitive" first recorded 1882. Nosey Parker as a name for an inquisitive person is from 1907.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper