curious

pronunciation

How to pronounce curious in British English: UK [ˈkjʊəriəs]word uk audio image

How to pronounce curious in American English: US [ˈkjʊriəs] word us audio image

  • Adjective:
    beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
    eager to investigate and learn or learn more (sometimes about others' concerns)
    having curiosity aroused; eagerly interested in learning more

Word Origin

curious
curious: see cure
curious (adj.)
mid-14c., "eager to know" (often in a bad sense), from Old French curios "solicitous, anxious, inquisitive; odd, strange" (Modern French curieux) and directly from Latin curiosus "careful, diligent; inquiring eagerly, meddlesome," akin to cura "care" (see cure (n.)). The objective sense of "exciting curiosity" is 1715 in English. In booksellers' catalogues, the word means "erotic, pornographic." Curiouser and curiouser is from "Alice in Wonderland" (1865).

Example

1. Like a curious explorer , see what you notice .
2. But a curious thing happened almost immediately .
3. His team sniffed out 14 curious objects .
4. They could make curious errors of date , though .
5. That included the curious lack of telephone or internet service .

more: >How to Use "curious" with Example Sentences