nosy
or nos·ey
unduly curious about the affairs of others; prying; meddlesome.
Origin of nosy
1Other words from nosy
- nos·i·ly, adverb
- nos·i·ness, noun
Words Nearby nosy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use nosy in a sentence
I really don't think I have to explain this or be embarrassed by nosy questions.
Miss Manners: How to be a good Samaritan at the grocery store | Judith Martin, Nicholas Martin, Jacobina Martin | March 5, 2021 | Washington PostKathryn Hahn is an utter delight as the nosy next-door neighbor who seems to be hiding a secret.
Wandavision Offers Hope That Originality Can Survive the Era of the Ever-Expanding Franchise | Eliana Dockterman | January 16, 2021 | TimeI have been called "nosy" and been accused of giving someone "the third degree."
Carolyn Hax: Don’t expect a recycling miracle on 34th Street | Carolyn Hax | December 2, 2020 | Washington PostHe asked to talk on the phone, but I declined because my kids were home and they're very nosy.
Carolyn Hax: She swiped right, and now it feels so, so wrong | Carolyn Hax | November 23, 2020 | Washington PostThe nosiest, noisiest, and most persistent shareholders are usually those looking for a quick gain, and the market famously rewards businesses that discount the future and externalize costs onto communities and the environment.
The ghost of Milton Friedman will haunt the markets until companies fix CEO pay | Judith Samuelson | September 16, 2020 | Quartz
Edmund is now 4, and is a giggly, sociable, nosy, occasionally impertinent boy.
But often they simply conceal their activities from friends and family, rather than put up with a lot of nosy questions.
Louie’s Elevator Romance: Can Love Exist Without Sex? | Amanda Marcotte | May 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSounds to me like Pew conducted its survey by flagging down cars full of stoned teenagers and asking nosy questions.
P.J. on the Owl-Monkey Project and the Science of Chick Flicks | P. J. O’Rourke | April 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTUnfortunately, the mission soon goes haywire when a group of menacing Miami mobsters—and the nosy Rosalyn—get involved.
‘American Hustle’: A Sexy, Gleefully Chaotic Caper Starring Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence | Marlow Stern | December 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAs annoying as he is--and he is very annoying, we continue to need the extremely nosy presence of dear old Uncle Sam.
Why Regulation Matters: Investigating the Meningitis Outbreak | Kent Sepkowitz | October 18, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTBeing the nosy child I was, every once in a while I would look him up in the phone book so I knew he existed.
Warren Commission (11 of 26): Hearings Vol. XI (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President KennedyI didn't like to ask too many questions for I might have got fired for being too nosy.
An American Hobo in Europe | Ben GoodkindBelts raced and flapped from nosy shafts along the ceiling—a steady, uninterrupted din.
I Walked in Arden | Jack CrawfordNot until he swings around and I gets a view of that nosy profile do I gasp any gasps.
Torchy, Private Sec. | Sewell FordBut he's not so new that he hasn't had time to study the area or to make plans to lead nosy people to the quarry.
The Blue Ghost Mystery | Harold Leland Goodwin
British Dictionary definitions for nosy
nosey
/ (ˈnəʊzɪ) /
informal prying or inquisitive
Derived forms of nosy
- nosily, adverb
- nosiness, 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
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