Synonym Usage
See curious.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prying
Explanation
Someone who's prying has a tendency to snoop into other people's private business. You may notice your prying neighbor peeking through his curtains whenever you have company. It's human nature to be curious, but when curiosity is taken too far, it's prying. Any crime or disaster is inevitably followed by crowds of prying reporters; and you might grow used to hiding your diary from the prying eyes of your little sister. Prying and its root, pry, come from prien, "to peer in," which may trace back to the Old English bepriwan, "to wink."
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.
"The deportation machine has kind of turned more surgical, so to speak. There's less activity in the cities where there's a lot more prying eyes," Budiandri said.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
All your traffic is routed through a remote server, masking your IP address and shielding your online activity from prying eyes.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
But will prying eyes across the interwebs ever learn the whole story?
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
However, because it sits in a gated parcel, it provides residents ample privacy, further amplified by the surrounding trees, which create a natural barrier from prying eyes.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 17, 2026
She looked at his neck, settled into rolls of fat, and imagined him prying the folds apart as he bathed.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
