Plural of busybody; people who are overly interested in other people's affairs and meddle in things that don't concern them.
Compound of 'busy' (actively engaged) and 'body' (person); originally meant someone actively engaged but evolved to mean someone busy with others' business.
The word 'busybody' appeared in the 1500s, and interestingly, it was often used to describe women—reflecting how women's natural sociability got labeled as meddlesome while men doing the same were called 'interested' or 'influential.'
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