Synonyms of prying

prying 1 of 4

adjective

ˈprī-iŋ 

1

as in curious

interested in what is not one's own business

as we moved into our new home, we could sense that there were prying eyes watching us

Synonyms & Similar Words

• curious
• inquisitive
• nosy
• interested
• questioning
• intrusive
• meddling
• officious
• meddlesome
• interfering
• concerned
• snoopy
• obtrusive
• interrogative
• inquisitorial
• quizzical
• inquisitional

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• indifferent
• disinterested
• incurious
• uninterested
• unconcerned
• uncurious
• apathetic

2

as in busy

thrusting oneself where one is not welcome or invited

prying neighbors who refuse to mind their own business

Synonyms & Similar Words

• busy
• intruding
• intrusive
• nosy
• meddling
• officious
• interfering
• meddlesome
• annoying
• pushing
• obtrusive
• pushy
• snoopy
• protrusive
• presumptuous
• rude
• presuming
• invading
• impudent
• brazen
• curious
• insolent
• trespassing
• inquisitive
• bumptious
• impertinent
• harassing
• overbearing
• bold
• pestiferous
• superserviceable

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unobtrusive
• silent
• quiet
• uninvolved
• withdrawn
• reclusive
• reticent
• retiring
• restrained
• taciturn
• reserved
• inhibited
• hands-off
• subdued

prying

2 of 4

noun

as in questioning

Related Words

• questioning
• interrogation
• inquiry
• interference
• concern
• wonderment
• attentiveness
• intrusiveness
• interest
• inquisitiveness
• regard
• obtrusiveness
• officiousness
• eavesdropping
• curiosity
• nosiness
• meddlesomeness
• curiousness
• rubbernecking

Dissimilar Words

• indifference
• disregard
• incuriosity
• incuriousness
• unconcern
• apathy
• disinterestedness

prying

3 of 4

verb (1)

present participle of pry

1

as in pulling

to raise, move, or pull apart with or as if with a lever

it took some effort to pry up the trap door

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pulling
• lifting
• breaking
• jimmying
• levering
• dividing
• elevating
• separating
• prizing
• shifting
• detaching
• hoisting
• disengaging
• uplifting
• parting
• breaking up
• disjoining

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• connecting
• joining

2

as in yanking

to draw out by force or with effort

a vain attempt to pry the cork out of a wine bottle

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pulling
• yanking
• extracting
• plucking
• removing
• uprooting
• tearing (out)
• wringing
• taking (out)
• prizing
• wresting
• corkscrewing
• rooting (out)
• mining
• withdrawing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• inserting
• installing
• instilling
• implanting
• stuffing
• jamming
• wedging
• ramming
• cramming

prying

4 of 4

verb (2)

present participle of pry

as in interfering

to interest oneself in what is not one's concern

don't go prying into other people's business

Synonyms & Similar Words

• interfering
• messing
• snooping
• poking
• intruding
• meddling
• intervening
• obtruding
• nosing
• intermeddling
• interloping
• invading
• butting in
• mucking (about or around)
• encroaching
• fooling
• interceding
• interposing
• tampering
• trespassing
• infringing
• fiddling
• playing
• monkeying
• barging (in)
• chiseling (in)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• avoiding
• ignoring
• shunning
• eschewing
• neglecting
• disregarding
• overlooking

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective prying contrast with its synonyms?

The words curious and inquisitive are common synonyms of prying. While all three words mean "interested in what is not one's personal or proper concern," prying implies busy meddling and officiousness.

prying neighbors who refuse to mind their own business

When is it sensible to use curious instead of prying?

While in some cases nearly identical to prying, curious, a neutral term, basically connotes an active desire to learn or to know.

children are curious about everything

When is inquisitive a more appropriate choice than prying?

The words inquisitive and prying are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, inquisitive suggests impertinent and habitual curiosity and persistent quizzing.

dreaded the visits of their inquisitive relatives

How does the adjective prying contrast with its synonyms?

The words curious and inquisitive are common synonyms of prying. While all three words mean "interested in what is not one's personal or proper concern," prying implies busy meddling and officiousness.

prying neighbors who refuse to mind their own business

When is it sensible to use curious instead of prying?

While in some cases nearly identical to prying, curious, a neutral term, basically connotes an active desire to learn or to know.

children are curious about everything

When is inquisitive a more appropriate choice than prying?

The words inquisitive and prying are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, inquisitive suggests impertinent and habitual curiosity and persistent quizzing.

dreaded the visits of their inquisitive relatives

How does the adjective prying contrast with its synonyms?

The words curious and inquisitive are common synonyms of prying. While all three words mean "interested in what is not one's personal or proper concern," prying implies busy meddling and officiousness.

prying neighbors who refuse to mind their own business

When is it sensible to use curious instead of prying?

While in some cases nearly identical to prying, curious, a neutral term, basically connotes an active desire to learn or to know.

children are curious about everything

When is inquisitive a more appropriate choice than prying?

The words inquisitive and prying are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, inquisitive suggests impertinent and habitual curiosity and persistent quizzing.

dreaded the visits of their inquisitive relatives

How does the adjective prying contrast with its synonyms?

The words curious and inquisitive are common synonyms of prying. While all three words mean "interested in what is not one's personal or proper concern," prying implies busy meddling and officiousness.

prying neighbors who refuse to mind their own business

When is it sensible to use curious instead of prying?

While in some cases nearly identical to prying, curious, a neutral term, basically connotes an active desire to learn or to know.

children are curious about everything

When is inquisitive a more appropriate choice than prying?

The words inquisitive and prying are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, inquisitive suggests impertinent and habitual curiosity and persistent quizzing.

dreaded the visits of their inquisitive relatives

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of prying

Adjective

But inquiring into the specifics of familial dynamics is impudent and prying -- and a line of questioning that most people would be happy to avoid answering themselves. —Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin, oregonlive, 4 Feb. 2023

But inquiring into the specifics of familial dynamics is impudent and prying — and a line of questioning that most people would be happy to avoid answering themselves. —Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 4 Feb. 2023

The Google Nest Hub (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is a great smart display with no camera (and therefore no risk of unwanted prying eyes). —Brenda Stolyar and Medea Giordano, WIRED, 28 Nov. 2022

To my mind, however, there’s a difference between a Google or a Facebook, which provide valuable services in return for their prying eyes, and an app that serves a single, ostensibly benign purpose — parking validation. —Los Angeles Times, 12 Nov. 2021

Carry two phones While anti-spy software may be effective in staving off the prying eyes of the Chinese government, not everyone knows how to install it. —Jane Li, Quartz, 6 Aug. 2019

Its purpose: to train librarians to implement secure protocols on their own web services, and to teach members of the community to evade the prying eyes of governments, corporations, and criminal hackers. —Eoin O'Carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Oct. 2017

One reason Russians have loaded up on passports is that Cypriot citizenship helps them avoid the prying eyes of their government and pay lower taxes. —Yalman Onaran, Bloomberg.com, 11 May 2017

Noun

With that said, the game has managed to rack up an impressive five million sales in under a month, developing a dedicated fanbase that's been probing and prying at the game's engine, with delightful and sometimes unexpected results. —Alan Bradley, Space.com, 16 Apr. 2026

Palm Springs Has Still Got It This desert enclave has long been many things at once—a spa town, a sanctuary away from Hollywood's prying eyes, a design capital, a shoo-in for winter sun. —Jason Sheeler, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Feb. 2026

But in the quietest corner of the 10-acre sanctuary, away from the public’s prying eyes, a cohort of most unusual occupants sleep. —Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 20 Feb. 2026

Videos of the shooting have spread online and appear to show Good, 37, being told to get out of her car, with one agent walking and prying at the door handle. —Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026

That was what led the princess to send her staff away and sneak the BBC crew in for the interview, isolating herself in the face of Bashir’s prying questions. —Theresa Braine, Mercury News, 26 Nov. 2025

The New Jersey native also teased some new music on the way after some prying from Hudson. —Michael Saponara, Billboard, 28 Oct. 2025

The prying end also serves as a nail puller, box cutter and bottle opener. —Ben Coxworth october 07, New Atlas, 7 Oct. 2025

The film stages its riot of activity as hard-nosed honesty, but its portrait is ultimately as ginned-up and inexact as the fictional news broadcast’s lurid prying. —Richard Lawson, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025

Verb

The attendant and one of the passengers worked together at prying open the baggage compartment door while the other passenger crawled around the floor, searching in the thick smoke for a cellphone to try to use as a flashlight, according to the statement transcripts. —Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2026

Reinforce your privacy fence by layering new fencing on top of existing fencing for an extra layer of protection that will help insulate your backyard from noise as well as prying eyes. —Kristin Hohenadel, The Spruce, 24 Apr. 2026

Most locks resist common workarounds, such as sawing, hammering or prying with a crowbar. —Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026

But will prying eyes across the interwebs ever learn the whole story? —Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2026

Its Duplicate Finder clears clutter, advanced renaming options make your files easy to track, and military-grade encryption protects everything from prying eyes. —Stackcommerce Team, PC Magazine, 13 Apr. 2026

There are those who close their social media accounts, those who move to a ranch away from prying eyes, and those who decide to address the issue. —Alessandra De Tommasi, Vanity Fair, 23 Mar. 2026

Under constant surveillance from informants and prying neighbors, the pair must conceal their enduring love while navigating a society on the brink of collapse, and the promise of newfound freedom. —Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 18 Mar. 2026

Quantum measurement disturbance, ordinarily a nuisance, would serve as a shield against prying eyes. —Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 18 Mar. 2026