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.
Prying them apart is a cinch and the pistachios inside the shell are meaty and substantial.
From Salon • Apr. 10, 2023
Prying market share away from Nvidia has been a challenge as many AI researchers and companies have been accustomed to using Nvidia’s software platform CUDA.
From Reuters • May 10, 2022
Prying eyes: Why insurance companies are looking at your Instagram feed.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2019
Prying a teenager out of bed at 6 a.m. to get to school is the equivalent of waking an adult at 4 a.m.
From New York Times • Sep. 20, 2018
Prying them apart, I lay down between them and fell asleep.
From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
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.
