curious

curious
adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French curios, from Latin curiosus careful, inquisitive, from cura cure Date: 14th century 1. a. archaic made carefully b. obsolete abstruse c. archaic precisely accurate 2. a. marked by desire to investigate and learn b. marked by inquisitive interest in others' concerns ; nosy 3. exciting attention as strange, novel, or unexpected ; odd <
a curious coincidence
>
curiousness noun Synonyms: curious, inquisitive, prying mean interested in what is not one's personal or proper concern. curious a neutral term, basically connotes an active desire to learn or to know <
children are curious about everything
>
. inquisitive suggests impertinent and habitual curiosity and persistent quizzing <
dreaded the visits of their inquisitive relatives
>
. prying implies busy meddling and officiousness <
prying neighbors who refuse to mind their own business
>
.

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • 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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