Pryingly

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. To engage in intrusive questioning or investigation with an unwarranted curiosity about others' lives
2. In a manner that demonstrates unwelcome curiosity about private matters
3. Done as if seeking information that is not freely offered or is considered private

Etymology: "Pryingly" is a plain formation: the adverb "prying" (from the verb "pry") with the suffix "-ly" added to turn it into an adverb of manner. The verb "pry" is the older and more interesting part of the story. It goes back to a Middle English word meaning to peer or look closely, and it was only later that the sense of forcing something open with a lever developed alongside it. So the idea of nosiness, of peering where you have no business, came first in the verb's history, and the adverb simply describes doing that in a particular way. Because "-ly" is one of the most productive suffixes in English, "pryingly" follows the usual pattern of adjectives like "prying" becoming adverbs by addition alone, with no change in the stem. Its meaning, a manner of intrusive curiosity about private matters, stays close to the sense of the verb's oldest use: looking closely at things that are none of your concern.

Synonyms: inquisitively, curiously, snooping, interrogatively, nosily

Antonyms: indifferently, dispassionately, uninterestedly, nonchalantly, apathetically