• Curious

    Pronunciation

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

    Origin

    From Old French curios, from Latin curiosus.

    Full definition of curious

    Adjective

    curious

    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.
    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

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