Translation guide
The quality of being too curious about other people's affairs. In Japanese, this is expressed through adjectives, nouns, and set phrases that criticize or warn against prying.
Describing a person or behavior as overly curious about others' private matters.
Expressing the action of being nosy or prying into someone's affairs.
Telling someone not to be nosy or to mind their own business.
There is no single Japanese adjective that perfectly matches 'nosy'. Using おせっかい is the closest, but it often implies meddling with good intentions. For purely negative prying, use 詮索好き or verb phrases like 首を突っ込む.
Japanese culture values privacy, so directly calling someone nosy can be rude. Often, nosiness is implied through context or softer phrases like ちょっと聞きたいんだけど (I'd like to ask a little...) when prying, or お構いなく (please don't bother) to deflect.
A common adjective/noun meaning meddlesome or nosy. Often used to describe someone who interferes in others' business with good intentions, but it can be negative.
彼女はおせっかいだ。
She is nosy.
おせっかいな人だね。
What a nosy person.
Literally 'fond of inquiry', this noun/adjective describes someone who pries into details. More formal than おせっかい.
彼は詮索好きな性格だ。
He has a nosy personality.
A noun meaning 'rubbernecking spirit' or nosiness about accidents or scandals. Strongly negative, implying vulgar curiosity.
野次馬根性を出すな。
Don't be so nosy (like a rubbernecker).
Literally 'to stick one's neck into', meaning to meddle or poke one's nose into something. Very common and natural.
人の問題に首を突っ込むな。
Don't stick your nose into other people's problems.
A verb meaning to pry or inquire nosily. More formal and direct than 首を突っ込む.
彼は私の過去を詮索した。
He pried into my past.
An idiom meaning to ask persistently and in detail, like 'to question someone thoroughly'. Implies nosy interrogation.
彼女は私のデートについて根掘り葉掘り聞いた。
She asked me all sorts of nosy questions about my date.
Similar to 大きなお世話, meaning 'unnecessary help' or 'none of your business'. Slightly more polite.
余計なお世話です。
That's none of your business.