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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in questioning
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of prying
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
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
Other prying eyes won’t have access to the documents, either.
—Zoe Guy, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2025
Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 26 Mar. 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
After being hounded by paparazzi for their entire courtship, the duo managed to pull off a secret wedding, away from prying eyes, on a secluded island in Georgia.
—Claudia Williams, Architectural Digest, 5 Mar. 2026
The floor-to-ceiling glass doors that line the west-facing wall to make the most of a stunning hillside view are easily blocked from light and prying eyes by curtains at the push of a button.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Mar. 2026
Of course, the Flyers got a nice return for Laughton last season, prying a 2027 first-round pick and forward Nikita Grebenkin out of Toronto.
—Kevin Kurz, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Now that the 2026 Winter Olympics are over, many people are prying into the personal lives of Olympic gold medalists.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 26 Feb. 2026
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
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
Other prying eyes won’t have access to the documents, either.
—Zoe Guy, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
Entering his third season at the helm, Counsell is seemingly more comfortable with the uniqueness of managing the Cubs, from the day games to the prying media to the quirkiness of the ballpark, which can favor hitters one day and pitchers the next.
—Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 26 Mar. 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
After being hounded by paparazzi for their entire courtship, the duo managed to pull off a secret wedding, away from prying eyes, on a secluded island in Georgia.
—Claudia Williams, Architectural Digest, 5 Mar. 2026
The floor-to-ceiling glass doors that line the west-facing wall to make the most of a stunning hillside view are easily blocked from light and prying eyes by curtains at the push of a button.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Mar. 2026
Of course, the Flyers got a nice return for Laughton last season, prying a 2027 first-round pick and forward Nikita Grebenkin out of Toronto.
—Kevin Kurz, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Now that the 2026 Winter Olympics are over, many people are prying into the personal lives of Olympic gold medalists.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 26 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prying
Adjective
-
Chalker said that, at least for him, the curious-scientist ruse never worked.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Montenegro pointed out that law students, attorneys who don’t have cases on a particular day and immigration judge applicants — and curious members of the public — are all also frequent presences who need consistent access to proceedings too.—
Caroline Kubzansky,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
With busy schedules, sitting down to eat a meal as a family can be tricky and cause feelings of guilt.—
Dr. Sarah Kinsella,
Boston Herald,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Each carried one passenger in the back seat, all of them busy on their phones.—
Catherine Lacey,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Both were stopped by officers a few blocks away and were taken in for questioning.—
Mike Darnay,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
-
In fact, the questioning of Chalker was part of a postmortem examination of a misstep by the case officer who had handed him the key.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Soon a tunnel between the ships, then a meeting, with a friendly, inquisitive alien who looks like a sort of craggy spider/crab, whom Grace dubs Rocky.—
Katie Walsh,
Twin Cities,
21 Mar. 2026
-
The inquisitive student was not a student at all, but a woman from Philadelphia named Bonnie Raines.—
Harmeet Kaur,
CNN Money,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Fugitives are allowed the first shot lest the officer face investigation, charges, interrogation by attorneys, and even adverse public opinion.—
Dave Duffey,
Outdoor Life,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Bait, the new Prime Video miniseries Ahmed created, wrote, and stars in, is both an exercise in self-analysis and an interrogation of it, a breakneck romp through farce, satire, thriller, family drama, and romantic walk-and-talk that transforms itself in each of its six episodes.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The LitterLens takes a less intrusive approach.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The family is close-knit, intrusive, rude and menacing.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Either Empire or Lowe’s will handle future customer service inquiries and warranty claims.—
Dan Simms,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The realms of philosophy and religion have sometimes intersected in conducting such inquiries as these.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The couple couldn’t risk sending their event programs to be printed at a copier shop in case a nosy shop worker snuck a photo of the nuptial details to a reporter.—
Kate Storey,
Rolling Stone,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Other states have increasingly weighed how to shield their residents from the consequences of invisible but ever-growing mountains of information amassed by smartphone apps, traffic cameras and nosy household appliances.—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
2 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Prying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prying. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
