curious

curious
—curiously, adv. —curiousness, n.
/kyoor"ee euhs/, adj.
1. eager to learn or know; inquisitive.
2. prying; meddlesome.
3. arousing or exciting speculation, interest, or attention through being inexplicable or highly unusual; odd; strange: a curious sort of person; a curious scene.
4. Archaic.
a. made or prepared skillfully.
b. done with painstaking accuracy or attention to detail: a curious inquiry.
c. careful; fastidious.
d. marked by intricacy or subtlety.
[1275-1325; ME < L curiosus careful, inquisitive, equiv. to curi- (comb. form of cura care) + -osus -OUS. See CURE]
Syn. 1. inquiring, interested. 2. spying, peeping. CURIOUS, INQUISITIVE, MEDDLESOME, PRYING refer to taking an undue (and petty) interest in others' affairs. CURIOUS implies a desire to know what is not properly one's concern: curious about a neighbor's habits. INQUISITIVE implies asking impertinent questions in an effort to satisfy curiosity: inquisitive about a neighbor's habits. MEDDLESOME implies thrusting oneself into and taking an active part in other people's affairs entirely unasked and unwelcomed: a meddlesome cousin who tries to run the affairs of a family. PRYING implies a meddlesome and persistent inquiring into others' affairs: a prying reporter inquiring into the secrets of a business firm. 3. singular, novel, rare.
Ant. 1, 2. indifferent.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Curious — Cu ri*ous (k? r? ?s), a. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See {Cure}.] 1. Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Little… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • curious — 1 Curious, inquisitive, prying, snoopy, nosy are comparable when meaning interested in finding out or in a search for facts that are not one s personal concern. Curious need not imply objectionable qualities such as intrusiveness or impertinence …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • curious — [kyoor′ē əs] adj. sometimes compar.curiouser: often in allusion to Lewis Carroll s Alice s Adventures in Wonderland [ME < OFr curios < L curiosus, careful, diligent, curious; akin to cura, care: see CURE] 1. eager to learn or know 2.… …   English World dictionary

  • curious — [adj1] desiring knowledge, understanding analytical, disquisitive, examining, impertinent, inquiring, inquisitive, inspecting, interested, interfering, intrusive, investigative, meddlesome, meddling, nosy, peeping, peering, prurient, prying,… …   New thesaurus

  • curious — index eccentric, extraordinary, inquisitive, noteworthy, prodigious (amazing), rare, remarkable, u …   Law dictionary

  • curious — (adj.) mid 14c., eager to know (often in a bad sense), from O.Fr. curios solicitous, anxious, inquisitive; odd, strange (Mod.Fr. curieux) and directly from L. curiosus careful, diligent; inquiring eagerly, meddlesome, akin to cura care (see CURE… …   Etymology dictionary

  • curious — ► ADJECTIVE 1) eager to know or learn something. 2) strange; unusual. DERIVATIVES curiously adverb. ORIGIN Latin curiosus careful , from cura care …   English terms dictionary

  • curious — cu|ri|ous [ kjuriəs ] adjective ** 1. ) someone who is curious wants to find out about something: I didn t mean to pry. I m just curious. That s all. curious about: Children are curious about animals and how they live. curious to see/hear/know… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • curious */*/ — UK [ˈkjʊərɪəs] / US [ˈkjʊrɪəs] adjective 1) a) someone who is curious wants to find out about something I didn t mean to pry. I m just curious. That s all. curious about: Children are curious about animals and how they live. curious to… …   English dictionary

  • curious — adj. eager to know 1) curious about (curious about smb. s past) 2) curious to + inf. (I would be curious to know what really happened) odd 3) curious that + clause (it is curious that she didn t remember the incident) * * * [ kjʊ(ə)rɪəs] curious… …   Combinatory dictionary

  • curious — adj. 1 eager to find out about sb/sth VERBS ▪ be, feel, seem ▪ became, get, grow ▪ remain ▪ …   Collocations dictionary

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