curious

CEFRB1

/ˈkjʊə.ɹi.əs/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
adjective
Wanting to know or learn about something.
02
adjective
Strange or unusual.

Examples

"What's going on in the cave? I'm curious." "I have no idea."
A curious disease struck the town.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

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

Also pronounced

/ˈkjoː-/
/ˈkjɔː-/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

Caused by curiosity.
Leading one to ask questions about; somewhat odd, out of the ordinary, or unusual.
Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying.

More examples

In context

The platypus is a curious creature, with fur like a mammal and a beak like a bird.
Young children are naturally curious about the world and everything in it.
He is such a curious boy

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank child asked why the sky turns orange at sunset.

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Nearby

Citations

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

I shall quit your vessel on the ice raft which brought me thither and shall seek the most northern extremity of the globe; I shall collect my funeral pile, and consume to ashes this miserable frame, that its remains may afford no light to any curious and unhallowed wretch, who would create such another as I have been.
1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VII, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 189
Jack Bradshaw, the leader of the Owl Patrol of the Redscar Scouts, strode to the dry stone wall bounding the cliff path, and drew from between the stones a ball of crumpled paper. He was curious as to why it had been placed there—where it could not have lodged accidentally—and he smoothed it out. He found it to be pencilled over with figures, like a scrap that had been used to reckon on.
1915 January, W. Jay, “The Answering Owl. A Tale of an East Coast Spy.”, in The Boy’s Own Paper, volume XXXVIII, part I, London: “Boy’s Own Paper” Office, […], →OCLC, chapter II, page 17, column 1
George is a little monkey, / and all monkeys are curious. / But no monkey / is as curious as George. / That is why his name is / Curious George.
1958, Margret Rey, Curious George Flies a Kite, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005, →ISBN, page 3
I know that not everyone feels like they are naturally curious—or bold enough to ask about someone's shoes. But here's the secret: that doesn't matter. You can use curiosity even if you don't think of yourself as instinctively curious.
2015, Brian Grazer, Charles Fishman, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 58
But he to ſhifte their curious requeſt, / Gan cauſen, why ſhe could not come in place; [...].
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 26, page 534

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Origin

adjective

From Middle English curious, from Old French curius, from Latin cūriōsus. The English word is cognate with Italian curioso, Occitan curios, Portuguese curioso, and Spanish curioso.

Deep Dive

adjective

More examples

Related

Quick test

The blank— child asked why the sky turns orange at sunset.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

The blank child asked why the sky turns orange at sunset.