nosy
/ˈnoʊzi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.85 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A nose.
Example Sentences
- "They built tall fences, yet the nosy neighbors always seemed to know everything about them."
- "Before even considering such a conversation, ask yourself why you want to know, Casares advises. “Are you asking because you feel jealous of that person?” she says. “Are you asking because you also want to go on a GLP-1, or are you asking because you’re nosy and need to know what’s going on in everybody else’s life?”"
- ""Look at you, a handsome man of thirty, with thick brown hair and a nosy nose and enormous feet and hands that can drive a team of horses or a yoke of oxen or," she hesitated in a brief shyness, and then went on, "a loving wife.""
- "She had the same sort of handsome, square-cut features as Timothy, with the difference that her nose was small and short — it was obvious that Timothy got his thick dark hair, his brown eyes and his nosy nose from his father, that vigorous impresario who had died suddenly of a heart-attack, his first, two years before the War began."
- "The problem is particularly acute in caricature when a variety of divergent features is forced into a precarious union, when a "nosy" nose is trying to get along with a hesitant mouth and vigilant eyebrows."
- "Nosy in his looks by the large hooked proboscis, which dominated his face, as well as by character, Ebenezer wanted, perhaps even needed, to know everyone's business."
Etymology
Etymology tree English nose Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English nose Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English nosy From nose + -y (adjectival suffix), or from nose + -y (diminutive suffix).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈnoʊzi/
- British English: /ˈnəʊziː/
Usage
Inflected Forms
nosier (comparative)
more nosy (comparative)
nosiest (superlative)
most nosy (superlative)
nosey (alternative)
nosies (plural)
nosies (present, singular)
nosying (participle, present)
nosied (participle, past)
nosied (past)