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.
Read this to learn about protecting them from prying eyes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
The money was supposedly a bribe to persuade her to go abroad, to avoid the prying eyes of the press.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 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
The home’s location inside a guard-gated community will also offer Lopez plenty of security, helping to protect her and her children from prying eyes.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
She gets annoyed every time I ask her and she shuts me up quickly, like I’m prying into top secret information.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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.
