nosey

_nosey_

Adjective.

Pronunciation and accent: nəʊzɪ.

Comparative and superlative forms: nosier, nosiest.

Etymology: variant of NOSY, which is analysed into NOSE + –y.

1. Evil-smelling; stinky; emitting a bad odour.

When he was gone, I opened the winders and ventilated the room; for it smelt as bad as one of the narrer alleys in Old Town Edinbro' […]: it was shocking nosey, I tell you.

Thomas Haliburton… The Clockmaker

2. Sensitive to evil smells. (Rare)

3. (Slang and jocose use) objectionably inquisitive; unduly curious; intrusive.

Antonym: uninquisitive.

Equivalents: fouineur/euse, fureteur/euse, in French; ficcanaso, in Italian; entrometido, in Spanish.

To the right was rows of dildos, vibrators, blow up dolls, massage oils, and lube. They carried everything you could ever think of. I browsed through their selection of vibrators and dildos. I needed something discreet because my family was nosey. I found the Power Bullet Mini vibrator.

Shalona L. Amos… Diary of a Sex Addict

“Can I kiss you?” Anthony asked. I told him no because I didn’t want my neighbors to see me. I knew that nosey Ms. Reid that lived to the left of us watched the house for my mother when she was at work, but it was two o’clock in the afternoon so it was her nap time.

Shalona L. Amos… Diary of a Sex Addict

He’d ask about everything we did, where we went, who we saw. […] He seemed nosey about anything we did.

John Roynesdal… Living in Darkness