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prying

pry·ing
P p

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [prahy-ing]
    • /ˈpraɪ ɪŋ/
    • /praɪ/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [prahy-ing]
    • /ˈpraɪ ɪŋ/

Definitions of prying word

  • adjective prying that pries; looking or searching curiously. 1
  • adjective prying impertinently or unnecessarily curious or inquisitive. 1
  • verb with object prying to try, test, or taste. 1
  • verb without object prying to inquire impertinently or unnecessarily into something: to pry into the personal affairs of others. 1
  • verb without object prying to look closely or curiously; peer; peep. 1
  • noun plural prying an impertinently inquisitive person. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of prying

First appearance:

before 1950
One of the 5% newest English words
First recorded in 1950-55; pry1 + -ing2

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Prying

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

prying popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 91% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

prying usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for prying

adj prying

  • busy — A busy time is a period of time during which you have a lot of things to do.
  • catechistic — a person who catechizes.
  • fact-finding — a person who searches impartially for the facts or actualities of a subject or situation, especially one appointed to conduct an official investigation, as in a labor-management conflict.
  • factfinding — a person who searches impartially for the facts or actualities of a subject or situation, especially one appointed to conduct an official investigation, as in a labor-management conflict.

noun prying

  • curiosity — Curiosity is a desire to know about something.
  • field sports — sports carried on in the open countryside, such as hunting, shooting, or fishing
  • hunt — to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.
  • inquisitiveness — given to inquiry, research, or asking questions; eager for knowledge; intellectually curious: an inquisitive mind.
  • interestingness — engaging or exciting and holding the attention or curiosity: an interesting book.

adjective prying

  • disgracious — Lacking grace; not pleasing; disagreeable.
  • disquisitive — Relating to disquisition; fond of discussion or investigation; inquisitive.
  • meddlesomeness — The qualities of being meddlesome; officiousness, intrusiveness.
  • nebby — (Geordie) Overly inquiring; nosey.
  • nosing — the part of the face or facial region in humans and certain animals that contains the nostrils and the organs of smell and functions as the usual passageway for air in respiration: in humans it is a prominence in the center of the face formed of bone and cartilage, serving also to modify or modulate the voice.

adverb prying

  • inquiringly — seeking facts, information, or knowledge: an inquiring mind.
  • inquisitively — given to inquiry, research, or asking questions; eager for knowledge; intellectually curious: an inquisitive mind.
  • nosily — unduly curious about the affairs of others; prying; meddlesome.
  • questioningly — In a questioning manner.

Top questions with prying

  • what does prying mean?
  • what is prying action?
  • what is prying?
  • what is the meaning of prying?

See also

Matching words

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