A nosey parker is someone who wants to know too much about other people. Note: `Nosey' is sometimes spelled `nosy'. The village's resident nosey parker, Olive, likes to spy on her neighbours with binoculars. Supermarkets are a nosy parker's paradise. The contents of strangers' trollies tell us so much about their lives. Note: `Parker' may refer to Matthew Parker, who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1559, and had a reputation for interfering in people's business.