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curious

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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionarycu·ri·ous \ˈkyu̇r-ē-əs\ adjective ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from Anglo-French curios, from Latin curiosus careful, inquisitive, from cura cure DATE 14th century1. a. archaic : made carefully b. obsolete : abstruse c. archaic : precisely accurate2. a. marked by desire to investigate and learn b. marked by inquisitive interest in others' concerns : nosy3. exciting attention as strange, novel, or unexpected : odd a curious coincidence• cu·ri·ous·ness nounSynonyms. 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 businessEnglish Etymologycurious mid-14c., "eager to know" (often in a bad sense), from L.curiosus "careful, diligent, curious," akin to cura "care." The objective sense of "exciting curiosity" is 1715. In booksellers' catalogues, the word means "erotic, pornographic." Curiouser and curiouser is from "Alice in Wonderland" (1865).Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7☞ curiouscuri·ous / 5kjuEriEs; NAmE 5kjur- / adjective1. ~ (about sth) | ~ (to do sth) having a strong desire to know about sth 求知欲强的；好奇的 SYN inquisitive : They were very curious about the people who lived upstairs. 他们对住在楼上的人感到很好奇。 I was curious to find out what she had said. 我真想弄清楚她说了些什么。 Everyone was curious as to why Mark was leaving. 马克为什么要离去,大家都感到好奇。 He is such a curious boy, always asking questions. 他这个孩子求知欲很强,总是爱提问。 2. ~ (that...) strange and unusual 稀奇古怪；奇特；不寻常: There was a curious mixture of people in the audience. 观众中有些人混杂在一起显得很怪。 It was a curious feeling, as though we were floating on air. 那是一种奇特的感觉,我们彷佛在空中漂浮。 It was curious that she didn't tell anyone. 她没有告诉任何人,这很反常。 • curi·ous·ly adv.: 'Are you really an artist?' Sara asked curiously. "你真是画家吗？"萨拉好奇地问道。 His clothes were curiously old-fashioned. 他的衣服式样陈旧古怪。 Curiously enough, a year later exactly the same thing happened again. 说来也怪,一模一样的事情在一年以后又发生了。 Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of EnglishOxford Collocations dictionary for students of Englishcurious adj. 1 eager to find out about sb/sth VERBS be, feel, seem | became, get, grow | remain | make sb Her secretive manner had made me curious. ADV. deeply, extremely, intensely, very I was intensely curious to know more about him. | a little, mildly, rather, slightly | frankly She coped with the frankly curious looks of the men. | genuinely | idly He saw a book on the table and picked it up, idly curious. | naturally Puppies are naturally curious. PREP. about I was curious about how she would react. | as to She was curious as to why he was there. PHRASES curious to find out/know/see sb/sth 2 strange/unusual VERBS be, feel, look, seem, smell, taste | find sb/sth ADV. extremely, very I find it very curious that you did not tell anyone. | a little, rather, slightly, somewhat The wine tasted rather curious. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus-11th Editionadj. Function: adjective 1 Synonyms: INQUISITIVE 1, disquisitive, inquiring, investigative, questioning Related Words: searching; analytical; prurient Antonyms: incurious 2 interested in what is not one's personal or proper concern FF1C;a curious old woman prying into her neighbors' affairsFF1E; Synonyms: inquisitive, inquisitorial, inquisitory, ||nibby, nosy, peery, prying, snoopy Related Words: interfering, intermeddling, meddling, tampering; examining, inspecting, scrutinizing; impertinent, intrusive, meddlesome Idioms: consumed (or burning or eaten up) with curiosity, curious as a cat (or monkey) Contrasted Words: aloof, detached, disinterested, indifferent, unconcerned, uninterested; apathetic, impassive, phlegmatic, stolid Antonyms: incurious 3 Synonyms: STRANGE 4, bizarre, odd, oddball, peculiar, quaint, queer, singular, unusual, weirdWebster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridgedcu·ri·ous\ˈkyu̇rēəs, -ür-\ adjective(sometimes -er/-est)Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French curios, from Latin curiosus careful, inquisitive, from curi- (from cura care) + -osus -ous — more at cure1. a. archaic : made or prepared with careful skill : elaborately or exquisitely executed : dainty, elaborate, recherché b. obsolete : minutely searching : abstruse, recondite c. archaic : marked by precise accuracy or careful ingenuity d. now dialect : choice, excellent, superlative2. a. : marked by desire to investigate and learn : showing interest in finding or searching out information : inquisitive < a rationalist who was curious and had a sort of scientific interest in life — D.H.Lawrence > < a man, like a cat, is curious about his environment and keeps investigating it — Stuart Chase > b. : given to investigating concerns other than one's own < an apprentice curious of his master's secrets > often : marked by inquisitiveness about others' concerns : prying, nosy < curious about the neighbors' doings > c. archaic : having a connoisseur's or virtuoso's interests3. a. now dialect : difficult to please : fastidious b. archaic : careful, solicitous, chary, cautious4. a. archaic : accompanied by feelings of interest : interesting b. : exciting attention, inquiry, speculation, or surprise as strange, hard to explain, unusual, or novel : awakening inquisitiveness :extraordinary < whatever we're thoroughly unfamiliar with is apt to seem to us odd … or curious — J.L.Lowes > c. of a book : erotic, pornographicSynonyms: inquisitive, prying, snoopy, nosy: curious always suggests an eager desire to learn and may or may not imply such objectionable qualities as intrusiveness or impertinence < a curious person, who searches into things under the earth and in heaven — Benjamin Jowett > < anyone who is prematurely curious to see the difference in treatment between different centuries — Henry Adams > < it was as if listening to her I had taken advantage of having seen her poor, bewildered, scared soul without its veils. But I was curious too … I was anxious, anxious to know a little more — Joseph Conrad > inquisitive implies habitual and perhaps impertinent search for information, sometimes about matters secret and unrevealed < we were in plain sight of everybody passing; and therefore we had no lack of visitors among such an idle, inquisitive set as the Tahitians — Herman Melville > < well, this Elsie, she was a bit inquisitive, as girls are, and one day … she managed to take a peep through a keyhole or something of that kind, and caught the old lady just in the act of putting the stuff away — Dorothy Sayers > prying implies officious meddling < in Texas the fearful, thirsty citizen may be afraid to have a drink on his front porch because of the prying eyes of his bluenosed neighbor across the hedge — Stanley Walker > < and down in one corner of the chest, safe from the prying eyes of my messmates, was a velvet-lined box from Maiden Lane. It contained a bracelet and necklace — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall > To this snoopy adds the suggestion of slyness or sneaking < the businessman sufficiently snoopy to discover what Jones has saved — Atlantic > nosy, suggesting a dog's procedure, implies desire for full information about any new situation < doesn't want nosy state officials or city slickers prying into its manners and morals — Fortnight >Synonym: see in addition strange.

Curious Archaic I B Desire C Marked Find