ferrety

1 9.5

Being nosy and quick to find hidden things

adjective
/ˈfɛrɪti/

: sospechoso

Who's your ferrety friend?

Examples

The detective had a ferrety nature, always poking his nose into everyone else's business.
With her ferrety eyes and inquisitive demeanor, she seemed to know all the neighborhood secrets.
His ferrety features gave him a sly appearance that made others wary of trusting him.

Synonyms

weaselly

vsferrety

Informal

4 8.4

A person who acts sneaky and dishonest to avoid clear answers

is more about being nosy and having sharp facial features rather than dishonesty

vulpine

vsferrety

1 9.9

Has clever and sly ways like a fox

focuses on nosiness and sharp looks rather than clever cunning

How Nosy

intrusive

50 6.1

prying

14 7.0

nosy

Offensive

60 3.4

ferrety

1 9.5

inquisitive

25 4.4

curious

724 1.3

discreet

106 5.8

Surface Forms

ferrety positive

Morphology

ferrety = ferret (transparent) = ferret + y

The adjective is directly formed from the noun 'ferret' with the productive suffix '-y' meaning 'having the qualities of', so the meaning is straightforward.

Etymology

The word ferrety comes from the animal ferret, a small creature that pokes into holes and 'searches' for hidden things. So to call someone ferrety is to say they are nosy or sly, as if they are always 'searching' for information or giving quick, sharp looks.