Curious

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkjʊəɹiÉ™s/
• Rhymes: -ʊəɹiÉ™s

Origin

From Old French curios, from Latin curiosus.

Full definition of curious

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Fastidious, particular; demanding a high standard of excellence, difficult to satisfy.
• 1612, John Smith, Proceedings of the English Colonie in Virginia, in Kupperman 1988, p. 172:But departing thence, when we found no houses, we were not curious in any weather, to lie 3 or 4 nights together upon any shore under the trees by a good fire.
• Fullerlittle curious in her clothes
2. Inquisitive; tending to ask questions, investigate, or explore.
   Young children are naturally curious about the world and everything in it.
3. Prompted by curiosity.
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.ix:But he to shift their curious request,
  Gan causen, why she could not come in place ....
4. Unusual; odd; out of the ordinary; bizarre.
   The platypus is a curious creature, with fur like a mammal and a beak like a bird.
• 1910, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price Chapter 1, Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
5. (archaic) Exhibiting care or nicety; artfully constructed; elaborate; wrought with elegance or skill.
• Bible, Exodus xxxv. 32to devise curious works
• Shakespearehis body couched in a curious bed

Related terms

• curiosity (noun)
• curio