👀 Nosy behavior 👀 Too curious

prying

7.0

Showing too much interest in other people's private lives in an annoying way

adjective
/ˈpraɪɪŋ/

: entrometido

She had a prying nature, always wanting to know what her neighbors were doing.

And I'm not, I'm not, I'm not prying eyes.

Examples

She thrusts out her head in a prying posture.
His prying questions made everyone feel uncomfortable during the meeting.
Everyone found his prying attitude irritating when he asked about their personal lives.

Synonyms

nosy

vsprying

Offensive

60 3.4

Too interested in other people's private life in an annoying way

is more clearly judged as offensive or intrusive rather than mild curiosity

inquisitive

vsprying

25 4.4

Wanting to know or learn things, sometimes too nosy

is more negative, stressing offensive or annoying interest rather than simple curiosity

nosey

vsprying

8 5.5

Showing too much interest in other people's private lives

is similar but can apply more broadly to annoying curiosity

snoopy

vsprying

1 8.4

A person who is too interested in other people's private lives

has the same meaning and tone used to judge invasive curiosity

Antonyms

discreet

115 5.8

Careful about what you say and do to avoid upsetting people or drawing attention

tactful

11 4.0

Being careful and polite when speaking to avoid hurting people

How Intrusive

meddlesome

8 7.2

prying

7.0

nosy

Offensive

60 3.4

inquisitive

25 4.4

curious

675 1.3

Surface Forms

prying positive

Morphology

prying = pry (transparent) = pry + ing

The adjective is the standard present-participle/adjectival use of the verb 'pry' with '-ing', so the meaning is directly derived from the base verb.

Etymology

Prying comes from the verb pry, which you can imagine like using a 'pry bar' to 'force open' something. So a prying person is like someone trying to 'force open' private matters by asking unwanted questions.