curious

Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

curious

eager to acquire knowledge; inquisitive: He was curious to know how she had come by so many of the rare objects.

Not to be confused with:

curios – unusual objects of art, valued as a curiosity: She has a special cabinet for her curios.

cu·ri·ous

(kyo͝or′ē-əs)

adj.

1. Eager to learn more: curious investigators; a trapdoor that made me curious.

2. Unduly inquisitive; prying: a curious neighbor always looking over the fence.

3. Arousing interest because of novelty or strangeness: a curious fact.

4. Archaic

a. Accomplished with skill or ingenuity.

b. Extremely careful; scrupulous or fastidious.

[Middle English, from Old French curios, from Latin cūriōsus, careful, inquisitive, from cūra, care; see cure.]

cu′ri·ous·ly adv.

cu′ri·ous·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

curious

(ˈkjʊərɪəs)

adj

1. eager to learn; inquisitive

2. overinquisitive; prying

3. interesting because of oddness or novelty; strange; unexpected

4. rare (of workmanship, etc) highly detailed, intricate, or subtle

5. obsolete fastidious or hard to please

[C14: from Latin cūriōsus taking pains over something, from cūra care]

ˈcuriously adv

ˈcuriousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cu•ri•ous

(ˈkyʊər i əs)

adj.

1. eager to learn or know.

2. taking an undue interest in others' affairs; prying.

3. arousing attention or interest through being unusual or hard to explain; odd; strange; novel.

4. Archaic.

a. made or done skillfully or painstakingly.

b. careful; fastidious.

c. marked by intricacy or subtlety.

[1275–1325; Middle English < Latin cūriōsus careful, inquisitive, probably back formation from incūriōsus careless, derivative of incūria carelessness]

cu′ri•ous•ly, adv.

cu′ri•ous•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Adj.	1.	curious - beyond or deviating from the usual or expected; "a curious hybrid accent"; "her speech has a funny twang"; "they have some funny ideas about war"; "had an odd name"; "the peculiar aromatic odor of cloves"; "something definitely queer about this town"; "what a rum fellow"; "singular behavior" peculiar, queer, rum, rummy, singular, funny, odd strange, unusual - being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird; "a strange exaltation that was indefinable"; "a strange fantastical mind"; "what a strange sense of humor she has"
	2.	curious - eager to investigate and learn or learn more (sometimes about others' concerns); "a curious child is a teacher's delight"; "a trap door that made me curious"; "curious investigators"; "traffic was slowed by curious rubberneckers"; "curious about the neighbor's doings" inquiring - given to inquiry; "an inquiring mind" incurious - showing absence of intellectual inquisitiveness or natural curiosity; "strangely incurious about the cause of the political upheaval surrounding them"
	3.	curious - having curiosity aroused; eagerly interested in learning more; "a trap door that made me curious" interested - having or showing interest; especially curiosity or fascination or concern; "an interested audience"; "interested in sports"; "was interested to hear about her family"; "interested in knowing who was on the telephone"; "interested spectators"

curious

adjective

1. inquisitive, interested, questioning, searching, inquiring, peering, puzzled, peeping, meddling, prying, snoopy (informal), nosy (informal) He was intensely curious about the world around him.
inquisitive indifferent, uninterested, incurious, uninquisitive

2. strange, unusual, bizarre, odd, novel, wonderful, rare, unique, extraordinary, puzzling, unexpected, exotic, mysterious, marvellous, peculiar, queer (informal), rum (Brit. slang), singular, unconventional, quaint, unorthodox A lot of curious things have happened here in the past few weeks. unusual common, ordinary, familiar, everyday

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

curious

adjective

1. Eager to acquire knowledge:

inquiring, inquisitive, investigative, questioning.

2. Unduly interested in the affairs of others:

inquisitive, inquisitorial.

Informal: nosy, snoopy.

3. Causing puzzlement; perplexing:

funny, odd, peculiar, queer, strange, weird.

4. Deviating from the customary:

bizarre, cranky, eccentric, erratic, freakish, idiosyncratic, odd, outlandish, peculiar, quaint, queer, quirky, singular, strange, unnatural, unusual, weird.

Slang: kooky, screwball.

British Slang: rum, rummy.

Translations

غَريبمُحِب للإستِطلاع ، مُهتَممُحِبٌّ لِلاسْتِطْلاع

zvědavýzvláštnípodivný

nysgerrigejendommeligmærkelig

neugierig seltsam anders kurios

περίεργος

curioso

uteliaserikoinen

curieux drôle étrange intéressant singulier

znatiželjan

kíváncsi

forvitinn

curioso strano memorabile

知りたがる

호기심이 강한

keistaikeistenybėneįprastassmalsiaismalsumas

dīvainsneparastszinātkārsziņkārīgs

nieuwsgierig

nysgjerrig rar spent på vitebegjærlig

ciekawy

curioso

любопытный

nenavadenradoveden

nyfiken

อยากรู้อยากเห็น

meraklı tuhaf garip

tò mò

好奇的稀奇古怪的

curious

[ˈkjʊərɪəs] ADJ

1. (= inquisitive) → curioso
I'd be curious to know → tengo curiosidad por saberlo
she was curious about her sister's new boyfriend → sentía curiosidad por conocer al nuevo novio de su hermana
"do you want to know for any special reason?" - "no, I'm just curious" → -¿quieres saberlo por alguna razón especial? -no, sólo por curiosidad

2. (= strange) → curioso
it's curious that she didn't say why → es curioso que no dijese por qué
it's curious how we keep meeting each other → es curioso que siempre nos estemos encontrando

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

curious

[ˈkjʊəriəs] adj

(= inquisitive) [person] → curieux/euse
to be curious about sth → être curieux/euse à propos de qch
to be curious about sth
I'm curious about him
BUT Il m'intrigue.
to be curious to know sth → être curieux/euse de savoir qch

(= strange) [event, object] → curieux/euse

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

curious

adj

(= inquisitive) → neugierig; I’m curious to know what he’ll do → ich bin mal gespannt, was er macht; I’m curious to know how he did it → ich bin neugierig zu erfahren, wie er das gemacht hat; I’d be curious to know how you got on → ich wüsste (ganz) gern, wie du zurechtgekommen bist; the neighbours were curious to know … → die Nachbarn wollten (nur) zu gerne wissen …; I’m curious about him → ich möchte gern mehr über ihn erfahren or herausfinden; why do you ask? — I’m just curious → warum fragst du? — nur so

(= odd) → sonderbar, seltsam, eigenartig; how curious! → wie seltsam!; it’s curious the way he already knew that → sonderbar etc, dass er das schon gewusst hat

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

curious

[ˈkjʊərɪəs] adj

a. (inquisitive) → curioso/a
I'm curious about him → m'incuriosisce
I'd be curious to know → sarei curioso di sapere

b. (strange) → strano/a, curioso/a

curious

(ˈkjuəriəs) adjective

1. strange; odd. a curious habit.

2. anxious or interested (to learn). I'm curious (to find out) whether he passed his exams.

ˈcuriously adverb

ˌcuriˈosity (-ˈo-) – plural ˌcuriˈosities – noun

1. eagerness to learn. She was very unpopular because of her curiosity about other people's affairs.

2. something strange and rare. That old chair is quite a curiosity.

curious

→ مُحِبٌّ لِلاسْتِطْلاع zvědavý nysgerrig neugierig περίεργος curioso utelias curieux znatiželjan curioso 知りたがる 호기심이 강한 nieuwsgierig nysgjerrig ciekawy curioso любопытный nyfiken อยากรู้อยากเห็น meraklı tò mò 好奇的

curious

a. curioso-a, extraño-a.

References in classic literature ?

A curious and most puzzling question might be started concerning this visual matter as touching the Leviathan.

View in context

"Oh, very curious. Mosques, minarets, temples, fakirs, pagodas, tigers, snakes, elephants!

View in context

By the way, a curious paper was found in papa's desk which no one could understand.

View in context

As we approached each other, I saw that he wore a plumed helmet, and seemed to be otherwise clothed in steel, but bore a curious addition also -- a stiff square garment like a herald's tabard.

View in context

She was leaning back in the farthest corner of her chair, her head resting slightly upon her fingers, her eyes studying with a curious intentness the outline of Wingrave's pale, hard face.

View in context

He did not express any open displeasure, but threw Rataziaev a curious look, and removed his hand from his shoulder.

View in context

Yes: there was to be, as Lord Henry had prophesied, a new Hedonism that was to recreate life and to save it from that harsh uncomely puritanism that is having, in our own day, its curious revival.

View in context

Sometimes they were pictures of dark, curious landscapes, but oftenest they were portraits of men and women in queer, grand costumes made of satin and velvet.

View in context

It occurred to me that a work of this kind might comprise a variety of those curious details, so interesting to me, illustrative of the fur trade; of its remote and adventurous enterprises, and of the various people, and tribes, and castes, and characters, civilized and savage, affected by its operations.

View in context

The view, looking sheer down into the broad valley, eastward, from this great elevation--almost a perpendicular mile--was very quaint and curious. Counties, towns, hilly ribs and ridges, wide stretches of green meadow, great forest tracts, winding streams, a dozen blue lakes, a block of busy steamboats--we saw all this little world in unique circumstantiality of detail--saw it just as the birds see it--and all reduced to the smallest of scales and as sharply worked out and finished as a steel engraving.

View in context

To satisfy my curious reader, it may be sufficient to describe Lorbrulgrud.

View in context

"The piglets have become invisible, in some curious way."

View in context

Full browser ?

CITE

Site: Follow: Share:

Open / Close