Pryers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who actively seek information or answers by asking questions or examining details closely; persons engaged in intrusive or inquisitive investigation or scrutiny; parties that probe into matters often in a persistent or meddlesome manner
2. People characterized by a habit of inquiring deeply into private or hidden affairs; those who investigate or examine something with close attention, sometimes overstepping boundaries; agents involved in secretive or earnest quest for knowledge
3. Those who habitually question or probe into topics or situations, sometimes regarded as nosy or overly curious; individuals who seek to uncover information by persistent questioning or examination; entities that engage in searching with intent to discover or expose details

Etymology: The word is an inflected form: the plural of "pryer", a person who pries. Its root is "pry", which probably came from Old French "espier" (to spy) and is the source of the same verb family as "spy", so "pryer" is essentially an agent of that verb with a plain English suffix. The suffix "-er" descends from Old English "-ere", which made people and tools from verbs, so a pryer is literally one who pries. The noun "pryer" is simply "pry" plus "-er", and the word is clearly the agent form of the verb rather than a separate coinage. Its plural "pryers" follows the regular pattern for English nouns ending in a consonant plus "-er".

Synonyms: interrogators, inquisitors, questioners, investigators, snoopers

Antonyms: ignorer, disregarder