prying

American  

[prahy-ing] / ˈpraɪ ɪŋ /

adjective

1. that pries; looking or searching curiously.

2. impertinently or unnecessarily curious or inquisitive.

   Synonyms:

   nosy

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Synonym Usage

See curious.

Other Word Forms

• pryingness
  noun
• unprying
  adjective
• pryingly
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of prying

First recorded in 1950–55; pry ¹ + -ing ²

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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

See Examples For:

prying

This is an uncomplicated yarn about a man prying open his heart and nudging other hard nuts to do the same.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Seclusion was clearly top of mind when the home was designed, with a long driveway and tree-lined parcel helping to protect the dwelling from any prying eyes—a must for an actress of Ryan’s renown.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 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

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

“Now, Eula, she gone be like prying a dead clam open.”

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

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