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.
Why Mr. Cabello insisted on keeping prying international eyes away from that building in La Guaira is a question that demands an answer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
"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
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network: it creates a secure private tunnel over public networks, such as the internet, to shield your online activity from prying eyes.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
But will prying eyes across the interwebs ever learn the whole story?
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
Some nights, she would talk on the phone for a long time, her voice hushed, as though she were protecting something from the world’s prying gaze.
From "Americanah" 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.
