curiosity

CEFRB1

/ˌkjʊə.ɹiˈɒs.ə.ti/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
A strong desire to know or learn something.
02
noun
Extra detail
A unique or extraordinary object which arouses interest.

Examples

Gifted children typically show great intellectual curiosity and a wide range of interests.
You are really full of curiosity, aren't you?

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 4
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 1

Also pronounced

/-ɪ.ti/
/ˌkjʊəˈɹɒsəti/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

Careful, delicate construction; fine workmanship, delicacy of building.
Inquisitiveness; the tendency to ask and learn about things by asking questions, investigating, or exploring.

More examples

In context

The child was full of curiosity.
He put the strangely shaped rock in his curiosity cabinet.
It was the first time that the lawyer had been received in that part of his friend's quarters; and he eyed the dingy windowless structure with curiosity, and gazed round with a distasteful sense of strangeness as he crossed the theatre, […]

Quick test

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Question 1 · Deep check

Driven by intense blank, the young scientist spent every weekend conducting experiments in her makeshift laboratory.

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Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

It was the first time that the lawyer had been received in that part of his friend's quarters; and he eyed the dingy windowless structure with curiosity, and gazed round with a distasteful sense of strangeness as he crossed the theatre, […]
1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Incident of the Letter”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 44
"Certainly there is nothing wrong with Alvin's intelligence, but many of the things that should concern him seem to be a matter of complete indifference. On the other hand, he shows a morbid curiosity regarding subjects which we do not generally discuss."
1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, page 39
They learn that reading, besides being something one does at school, is also something one can do on one's own, for fun, to satisfy curiosity, or even to "expand one's horizons.”
1972, Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 25
Curiosity about the power of self-control skills, which include conscientiousness, self-discipline, and perseverance, arose from recent empirical observations that preschool Head Start, an ambitious, federally funded program of special services launched in 1965 to boost the intellectual development of needy children, has failed to achieve the goal of boosting IQ scores. But the programs have unexpectedly succeeded in lowering the former pupils’ rates of teen pregnancy, school dropout, delinquency, and work absenteeism.
2013 September-October, Terrie Moffitt et al., “Lifelong Impact of Early Self-Control”, in American Scientist
[The room] was adorned with a great number of nicknacks and curiosities, which might have engaged the attention of a virtuoso.
1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

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Origin

noun

From Middle English curiosite, variant of curiouste, from Anglo-Norman curiouseté, from Latin cūriōsitātem, accusative of cūriōsitās. By surface analysis, curious + -ity. Displaced native Old English firwitt.

Deep Dive

noun

More examples

Related

Quick test

Driven by intense blank—, the young scientist spent every weekend conducting experiments in her makeshift laboratory.

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Origin

noun

Driven by intense blank, the young scientist spent every weekend conducting experiments in her makeshift laboratory.