Etymology From nose + -y (adjectival suffix), or from nose + -y (diminutive suffix).
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.
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?”2026 January 29, Angela Haupt, “Can I Ask Someone if They’re on Ozempic?”, in TIME, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2026:
2
Having a large or elongated nose.
"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."1962, Paul Engle, Golden Child, page 25:
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.1971, William Cooper, You want the right frame of reference, page 22:
2 more examples
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.1982, Art Journal - Volumes 42-43, page 322:
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.2005, R. G. Crouch, The Coat: The Origin and Times of Doggett's Famous Wager, page 99:
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; […]1890, Laura E[lizabeth] Richards, “Rosy Posy”, in In My Nursery, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, page 174:
It’s this time of year when you’re warm and cozy and white snowflakes fall on your little nosy.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:
2 more examples
Who’s my little mouse? Whose little nosy is this? Who has the biggest eyesies in Agramstadt?2011, Miljenko Jergović, chapter IV, in Stephen M. Dickey, transl., Ruta Tannenbaum, Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, →ISBN, page 25:
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.2013, Jacqueline Wilson, Queenie, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 133:
nosy
verb
Etymology From nose + -y (adjectival suffix), or from nose + -y (diminutive suffix).