nosy

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See also: носы

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From nose +‎ -y.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈnəʊziː/
  • (US) enPR: nō'-zē, IPA(key): /ˈnoʊzi/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Adjective[edit]

nosy (comparative nosier or more nosy, superlative nosiest or most nosy)

  1. Prying, inquisitive or curious in other’s affairs; tending to snoop or meddle.
    They built tall fences, yet the nosy neighbors always seemed to know everything about them.
  2. Having a large or elongated nose.
    • 1962, Paul Engle, Golden Child, page 25:
      "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."
    • 1971, William Cooper, You want the right frame of reference, page 22:
      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.
    • 1982, Art Journal - Volumes 42-43, page 322:
      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.
    • 2005, R. G. Crouch, The Coat: The Origin and Times of Doggett's Famous Wager, page 99:
      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.

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

nosy (plural nosies)

  1. (UK, slang) A look at something to satisfy one's curiosity.
    I might wander down to the construction site for a nosy at what they're building.
  2. (childish, rare) A nose.
    Alternative form: nosie
    • 1890, Laura E[lizabeth] Richards, “Rosy Posy”, in In My Nursery, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, page 174:
      There was a little Rosy, / And she had a little nosy; / And she made a little posy, / All pink and white and green. / And she said, “Little nosy, / Will you smell my little posy? / For of all the flowers that growsy, / Such sweet ones ne’er were seen.” / So she took the little posy, / And she put it to her nosy, / On her little face so rosy, / The flowers for to smell; […]
    • 2004 December 19, Mandel Comanda, “[What the holidays mean to me] It’s for family and friends”, in Sunday Courier News, page 140, column 3:
      It’s this time of year when you’re warm and cozy and white snowflakes fall on your little nosy.
    • 2011, Miljenko Jergović, chapter IV, in Stephen M. Dickey, transl., Ruta Tannenbaum, Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, →ISBN, page 25:
      Who’s my little mouse? Whose little nosy is this? Who has the biggest eyesies in Agramstadt?
    • 2013, Jacqueline Wilson, Queenie, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 133:
      She pretended to pull off his nose and then held her fist in front of Michael’s face, her thumb peeping out between her fingers. ‘There – I’ve got your nose now!’ […] She pressed her thumb onto his little face. ‘Here’s your little nosy, back safe and sound between your rosy cheeks,’ she said.

Verb[edit]

nosy (third-person singular simple present nosies, present participle nosying, simple past and past participle nosied)

  1. (informal, with into) To pry into something.
    My brother always nosies into my diary.

Anagrams[edit]

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

nosy

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative/instrumental plural of nos

Malagasy[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *nusa. Compare Malay nusa.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

nosy

  1. island (area of land completely surrounded by water)

Polish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈnɔ.sɨ/
  • Rhymes: -ɔsɨ
  • Syllabification: no‧sy

Noun[edit]

nosy m inan

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of nos
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