CURIOUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does curious mean? 

• CURIOUS (adjective)
  The adjective CURIOUS has 2 senses:

1. beyond or deviating from the usual or expected

2. eager to investigate and learn or learn more (sometimes about others' concerns)

  Familiarity information: CURIOUS used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CURIOUS (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Beyond or deviating from the usual or expected

Synonyms:

curious; funny; odd; peculiar; queer; rum; rummy; singular

Context example:

singular behavior

Similar:

strange; unusual (being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird)

Derivation:

curiosity (something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting)

curiousness (the quality of being alien or not native)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Eager to investigate and learn or learn more (sometimes about others' concerns)

Context example:

curious about the neighbor's doings

Similar:

inquisitive; questioning; speculative; wondering (showing curiosity)

nosey; nosy; prying; snoopy (offensively curious or inquisitive)

overcurious (showing excessive curiosity)

Also:

inquiring (given to inquiry)

interested (having or showing interest; especially curiosity or fascination or concern)

Antonym:

incurious (showing absence of intellectual inquisitiveness or natural curiosity)

Derivation:

curiosity (a state in which you want to learn more about something)

curiousness (a state of active curiosity)

 Context examples 

Messner's gray eyes were mildly curious as he went on: That was to be expected—two sides to the shield. Living in Berkeley I only got the one side.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The planets straddle an observed gap in the sizes of known planets and promise to be among the most curious targets for future studies.

(NASA’s TESS Mission Scores ‘Hat Trick’ With 3 New Worlds, NASA)

It was a curious way of managing it, but, really, it would be difficult to suggest a better.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Wolf Larsen looked savagely at the vessel, while Maud Brewster was curious.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

One of the most curious things to come out of our observations of Io is the periodic brightening seen at Loki Patera every 400 to 600 days.

(Massive Lava Waves Detected on Solar System’s Most Volcanically Active Object, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

By the way, there is one curious little point about those papers which may serve us as the starting-point for an inquiry.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Among planets that orbit close to their stars, there's a curious dearth of worlds between about 1.5 and two times Earth's size.

(Citizen Scientists Find New World with NASA Telescope, NASA)

He seemed curious regarding the cottage, too, as if it were the first time he had seen it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

In 1918, astronomer Heber Curtis first noticed "a curious straight ray" extending from the galaxy's center.

(The Giant Galaxy Around the Giant Black Hole, NASA)

By-and-by, however, as I was curious to know how time was passing, I struck a match, and by its flame looked at my watch; it was within a few minutes of midnight.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)