stickybeak
UK/ˈstɪkibiːk/
stickybeak noun: an overly inquisitive person, a nosey parker.
Noun
stickybeak (plural stickybeaks)
- An overly inquisitive person, a nosey parker.
- I walked back towards the grinning stickybeak who took a few steps backwards before fleeing for the steamy safety of his laundry.1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 109
- Babies of this age are delightful stickybeaks, vitally interested in everything and everyone around them.1994, Robin Barker, Baby Love, Pan Macmillan Australia, published 2009, page 419
- Synonyms:
- nosey parker, snoop
- An act of looking at or watching something, especially something which does not directly concern the one looking.
- Want me to have a stickybeak at that?
- Shall we take a stickybeak at that shop?
- Synonyms:
- look-see, quick peek
Verb
stickybeak (third-person singular simple present stickybeaks, present participle stickybeaking, simple past and past participle stickybeaked)
- To pry or snoop.
- Two of the more arrogant birds actually inspected the inside of the tent, clucking away to each other as they stickybeaked.2007, Kevin Hallewell, Woop Woop, page 104
- When my father had shorn for the Lindleys, I had spent a day at the shed, stickybeaking at everything but making sure I didn′t upset shed activities.2007, Harry Hill, He Was My Father, Rosenberg Publishing, Australia, page 124
stickybeak meaning in Tamil
stickybeak in Tamil
- தலையீட்டாளா, தலையீட்டாளர்
Examples of stickybeak in a sentence
- Between properties, we stopped off for tea with my grandmother and my aunt, and my mother produced her stash of floor plans like enemy intelligence: ‘Have a stickybeak at this!’2009, Anna Goldsworthy, Piano Lessons, published 2011, page 109:
- God knows what the other patients and staff made of a mob of blackfellas rocking up to visit one of our own, in a private room, to have a stickybeak at the new bub.2010, Kate Howarth, Ten Hail Marys, page 4:
- I wasn′t stickybeaking or anything, it was at the main bar and your mother mustn′t have realised I was in my usual spot.2009, Bryce Courtenay, The Story of Danny Dunn, volume 1, ReadHowYouWant, published 2011, 2, page 202:
Synonyms of stickybeak
- nosey parker
- snoop
- look-see
- quick peek
Forms of stickybeak
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | stickybeaks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | stickybeaks |
| present participle | stickybeaking |
| past participle | stickybeaked |
| past | stickybeaked |
Origin of stickybeak
From sticky + beak; presumably from the metaphor of sticking one′s beak (“nose”) where it is not wanted (compare nosy).
Questions about stickybeak
- What does stickybeak mean?
- Stickybeak means an overly inquisitive person, a nosey parker.
- What is stickybeak in Tamil?
- Stickybeak in Tamil is தலையீட்டாளா, தலையீட்டாளர். See Stickybeak meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use stickybeak in a sentence?
- Between properties, we stopped off for tea with my grandmother and my aunt, and my mother produced her stash of floor plans like enemy intelligence: ‘Have a stickybeak at this!’
- What part of speech is stickybeak?
- Stickybeak can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce stickybeak?
- Stickybeak is pronounced /ˈstɪkibiːk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of stickybeak?
- The plural of stickybeak is stickybeaks.
Words near stickybeak in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: stickybeak (page history and authors); stickybeak (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-stickybeak.ogg.
Cite this entry: “stickybeak.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stickybeak. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.