1. Word finder
  2. Word definitions
  3. curious

Find the word definition

What is "curious"

Crossword clues for curious

curious
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
curious
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a curious/remarkable fact
▪ It is a remarkable fact that elephants do not use their trunks to suck up water until they are over four months old.
a strange/curious coincidence
▪ What a strange coincidence that you were both living in Bangkok at the same time.
curious stares
▪ They ignored the curious stares directed at them.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
as
▪ I must confess I was as curious as they were so I kept an eye on the cottage to see who came.
▪ And the ear is just as curious.
▪ Teachers say Down's children are just as curious and interested as other children.
▪ As he got up to speak, she said, she was as curious as anyone else about what would pour out.
▪ The people were better dressed, but just as curious.
how
▪ Le Pen's outburst illustrates just how curious is this retention of antisemitism.
▪ I believe there are no red-headed Civil Servants. How curious.
just
▪ I began to feel ashamed of my nosiness but I hadn't intended to be nosey: I was just curious.
▪ The Educorp catalogue also lists some more contemplative, or just curious, examples, including the Bogie Stack.
▪ He says he's just curious.
▪ I was standing at the back of the tent, just curious.
▪ Some were just curious, and would pretend to have lost their way and hope to be invited to spend a night.
more
▪ And even more curious - they don't usually dispense £20 notes.
▪ The black one continued to look Glover over, but he was relaxed, more curious than anything.
▪ Now she was even more curious about his tastes, his means, his life alone.
most
▪ It was one of the most curious things I had ever seen.
▪ Of course, the most curious of all former Salomon Brothers mortgage traders is Howie Rubin.
▪ This Dickens was a most curious man.
▪ The most curious finding, according to Shmeltzer, was that the labels in the suspects' clothes had been torn out.
▪ A sweet tooth One of the most curious symptoms of candidiasis is a craving for sugary foods or for foods containing yeast.
▪ Outwardly, the most curious aspect of Neon Prophet is that none of them are Rastafarian.
▪ Something else which is expected of him; the most curious manifestation of noblesseoblige.
▪ This is most curious, considering that in the same column he seems to directly contradict this very point.
rather
▪ A rather curious look from Prince Philip wondering, no doubt, how this lowly two-ringer got into the act.
▪ We have Sigmund Freud to thank for a rather curious state of affairs.
▪ The emphasis on pace bowling meant that he found himself in a rather curious position.
▪ This seems a rather curious reading.
▪ This is a rather curious argument about sign language.
so
▪ So you start out from some curious notion you have hit on, or even not so curious.
▪ The story behind the rumour is so curious, however, that it is worth telling none the less.
▪ I can not say why I suddenly became so curious about him.
very
▪ But then my eye caught a pair of heavy wool embroidered curtains drawn across an angled alcove. Very curious.
▪ Normally, these are very curious animals.
▪ At least the wines tasted very curious to my inexpert palate.
▪ Yes, says Black, settling in comfortably to the languor of the moment, a number of very curious stories.
▪ I was very curious about the other contents of the suitcase which was now lying on the floor near me.
▪ Biting a tree and then running away seemed like a very curious and wasteful behavior.
▪ When she saw it was Nick Frazer something very curious happened.
▪ Now she did a very curious thing: she explored all the subterranean passages connecting the Columbia buildings.
■ NOUN
coincidence
▪ Was it relevant to his enquiry, or just a curious coincidence?
▪ By curious coincidence, the suitable candidates are somehow always chaps.
▪ Lagutin was the subject of a curious coincidence the following day.
▪ It was just a curious coincidence that Hatton had been killed on the day following that of Mrs Fanshawe's regaining consciousness.
fact
▪ It is a curious fact that the Nizan Case was ultimately dominated more by fiction than by fact.
▪ A curious fact which might seem at first to constitute an exception to this explanation turns out to provide further confirmation of it.
▪ Nor does Hinkes tell us another curious fact.
▪ The curious facts of Ipswich v Fisons were being relied on to support the distinction.
▪ It is also a curious fact that the older the remains of industry are the better they are regarded.
▪ This probably does not take most people by surprise-yet it is a curious fact.
glance
▪ I wonder if they will ask me to go, but apart from a few curious glances, quickly snuffed, they ignore me.
▪ Robyn could tell the minute she met their curious glances.
▪ In running the same course of action is likely to do little more than raise a few curious glances from fellow competitors.
▪ Even with Owen, she attracted some curious glances from people at adjoining tables.
▪ Once outside, she stood uncertainly for a moment, oblivious to the curious glances of passers-by.
▪ Even the wallabies, for whom bouncing around is a way of life, cast a curious glance.
▪ He held the door open and she passed through, followed by many curious glances.
look
▪ A rather curious look from Prince Philip wondering, no doubt, how this lowly two-ringer got into the act.
▪ Some of the men gave him curious looks because of the blood that had sheeted his right side.
▪ The driver gave her a curious look then.
▪ I go back past Security and get a slightly curious look myself.
▪ In the evenings, she ate alone and loved it: she felt curious looks coming her way.
mixture
▪ He felt a curious mixture of elation and unease.
▪ What has always separated them from other rock-and-roll bands is a curious mixture of maturity and immaturity.
▪ Her plate held a curious mixture of Spam, jelly, iced buns and lettuce leaves.
▪ The band's room is filled with a curious mixture of people, waiting for something to happen.
▪ The mill still stands and is a curious mixture of brick, elm, slate and corrugated iron.
▪ It was a curious mixture of staid respectability with overtones of holiday fun.
▪ Nizan's political stance at this juncture was a curious mixture of uncompromising denunciation and sweet-talking collaboration.
▪ Naturally the city figures large in this adventure, but one drawn from a curious mixture of references.
sensation
▪ Once again Sabine had the curious sensation that time had stopped and run back.
thing
▪ It was one of the most curious things I had ever seen.
▪ When George came back he did a curious thing.
▪ But the curious thing was that the idea had somehow and much against his will taken root in his consciousness.
▪ Such a curious thing for an established and respected elderly gentleman to do, now that she came to consider it seriously.
▪ A curious thing has happened here.
▪ The curious thing is why a university made Mr Jeffries head of an academic department in the first place.
way
▪ The women who were working there looked at me in a kind curious way at first and then took me for granted.
▪ And the true Jets' fans have curious ways of showing their affection.
▪ In a curious way he would miss Tibbles.
▪ Strangers have a curious way of coming through for other strangers.
▪ They have a curious way of sitting on the back seat, unfamiliar with the correct posture.
▪ Metaphors have a curious way of living beyond the point at which the evidence from which they grew has been discarded.
▪ She had found an explanation of events which satisfied her, an explanation which in a curious way brought her contentment.
▪ Darwin's theory was presented in the Origin in a curious way.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ "Why do you want to know about Catherine?" "Oh no reason. I'm just curious."
▪ A few curious neighbors came out to see what was going on.
▪ Being naturally curious animals, cats often find their way into dangerous places.
▪ Even young children often become curious about drugs.
▪ He had come to some curious arrangement with his landlady.
▪ He was curious to find out why she had left her job so suddenly.
▪ I'm not being nosy, I'm just curious.
▪ It was a weird situation, and I was curious to learn more.
▪ Life in the village was a curious combination of the old and the very new.
▪ People have always been curious about exactly how life on earth began.
▪ The principal's response to the problem was curious.
▪ The visitors were soon surrounded by a crowd of curious children.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ At first Wexford felt a curious distaste and then he thought about the dead man and what he knew of him.
▪ But even I am a little bit curious as to what the top news stories are.
▪ It is curious, by the way, that the gridiron plan should have gone on so long.
▪ She looked through the drawers of Bob's desk, curious to explore even the most unconsidered corners of his life.
▪ String theory has a curious history.
▪ The result is a curious hybrid that values action and physical movement above all else.
▪ They had once been white, he remembered, but now they had turned a curious shade of yellow.
▪ Upon learning of this daily miracle, a curious neighbor gave the fish a whack.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Curious

Curious \Cu"ri*ous\ (k?"r?-?s), a. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]

  1. Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [Obs.]

    Little curious in her clothes.
    --Fuller.

    How shall we, If he be curious, work upon his faith?
    --Beau. & Fl.

  2. Exhibiting care or nicety; artfully constructed; elaborate; wrought with elegance or skill.

    To devise curious works.
    --Ex. xxxv. 32

    His body couched in a curious bed.
    --Shak.

  3. Careful or anxious to learn; eager for knowledge; given to research or inquiry; habitually inquisitive; prying; -- sometimes with after or of.

    It is a pity a gentleman so very curious after things that were elegant and beautiful should not have been as curious as to their origin, their uses, and their natural history.
    --Woodward.

  4. Exciting attention or inquiry; awakening surprise; inviting and rewarding inquisitiveness; not simple or plain; strange; rare. ``Acurious tale''
    --Shak.

    A multitude of curious analogies.
    --Macaulay.

    Many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore.
    --E. A. Poe.

    Abstruse investigations in recondite branches of learning or sciense often bring to light curious results.
    --C. J. Smith.

    Curious arts, magic. [Obs.]

    Many . . . which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them.
    --Acts xix. 19.

    Syn: Inquisitive; prying. See Inquisitive.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
curious

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).

Wiktionary
curious

a. 1 (lb en obsolete) fastidious, particular; demanding a high standard of excellence, difficult to satisfy. 2 inquisitive; tending to ask questions, investigate, or explore. 3 Prompted by curiosity. 4 Unusual; odd; out of the ordinary; bizarre. 5 (lb en archaic) Exhibiting care or nicety; artfully constructed; elaborate; wrought with elegance or skill.

Related phrases:
WordNet
curious

  1. adj. beyond or deviating from the usual or expected; "a curious hybrid accent"; "her speech has a funny twang"; "they have some funny ideas about war"; "had an odd name"; "the peculiar aromatic odor of cloves"; "something definitely queer about this town"; "what a rum fellow"; "singular behavior" [syn: funny, odd, peculiar, queer, rum, rummy, singular]

  2. eager to investigate and learn or learn more (sometimes about others' concerns); "a curious child is a teacher's delight"; "a trap door that made me curious"; "curious investigators"; "traffic was slowed by curious rubberneckers"; "curious about the neighbor's doings" [ant: incurious]

  3. having curiosity aroused; eagerly interested in learning more; "a trap door that made me curious"

Wikipedia
Curious (disambiguation)

Being curious means being inquisitive and tending to investigate or explore, in the passive sense as strange, surprising, odd, or as a euphemism for erotic as in 'curious art'.

Curious may also refer to:

  • Curious (Fiestar song), a song by Fiestar
  • Curious (fragrance), a women's fragrance from Elizabeth Arden, endorsed by Britney Spears
  • "Curious" (Tony Yayo song), a song by Tony Yayo
  • "Curious" (Danny Fernandes song), a song by Danny Fernandes
  • Bi-curious, A person curious for a relationship or sexual activity with a person of the sex they do not favor.
Curious (fragrance)

Curious is a women's fragrance by Britney Spears for Elizabeth Arden, and is the first perfume to be endorsed by Britney Spears, preceding " Fantasy." Spears reportedly earned $52 million from the endorsement.

Curious (Tony Yayo song)

"Curious" is the second single released off Tony Yayo's debut album, Thoughts of a Predicate Felon. The single features R&B artist Joe on the chorus of the song.

Curious (Danny Fernandes song)

"Curious" is the first single by Canadian R&B singer Danny Fernandes. The song features American rapper Juelz Santana and was produced by Pilzbury. It appears on Fernandes' first album, Intro.

Curious (Yellow)

Curious (Yellow) was a pop, alternative rock band formed in 1987 by Swedish-born Karin Jansson, a singer-songwriter and guitarist, formerly of feminist punk band Pink Champagne. Curious (Yellow) had releases on Red Eye Records – an EP, I Am Curious and an album Charms and Blues. Both were produced by Steve Kilbey of The Church, who was Jansson's domestic partner. The band's name and that of their first release are references to the 1967 Swedish cult film I Am Curious (Yellow).

Usage examples of "curious".

He had the curious feeling that in some way that weirdly beautiful, unhuman creature named Adana had been following his thoughts, approved his decision, and because of it had come to some final determination of her own which till now had hung in the balance.

Petrie and Adelaide and Prickles were shunted northwards in a curious dream.

There was a curious application of English aestheticism to the rude arrangements and homemade furniture of the Australian bush.

Before relating that which I have to say about the Queen and her precautions against myself, I would not omit certain curious incidents during the journey that the King caused us to take in Alsatia and Flanders, when he captured Maestricht and Courtrai.

He also had a look about him one saw only in this countrya curious mixture of nationalities, part Amerind, part European, part black, that had merged over the past four centuries into a unique and distinct new race, the Atlantic Brazilian.

It shuddered, and a curious keening rose into the night, but it needed only seconds to overwhelm Tripley, to suck him within its amoebic folds.

It was fortunate for me that I did not procure these volumes till I had heard them very generally spoken of, for the curiosity I felt to know the contents of a work so violently anathematised, led me to make enquiries which elicited a great deal of curious feeling.

I wanted to look more closely at some of the curious links I thought I had identified connecting the sudden appearance of Viracocha to the deluge legends of the Incas and other Andean peoples.

There is recorded an inexplicable case of menstruation from the region of the sternum, and among the curious anomalies of menstruation must be mentioned that reported by Parvin seen in a woman, who, at the menstrual epoch, suffered hemoptysis and oozing of blood from the lips and tongue.

I know men ask chambermaids questions of that kind, and they all give answers like your sweetheart, who perhaps wanted to make you curious about herself.

Across the areaway, a light came on, causing Monk to dodge wildly for cover, but it was only a curious neighbor turning on his light and raising his window shade.

The final ceremony which brings the period of mourning to an end is curious and entirely different from the one observed by the Arunta on the same occasion.

Admiral Cuomo was something of a help because he had engaged the Arusha woman and me in animated small talk about his favorite subject, ice hockey, about which he supposed us intensely curious because of our lack of exposure to the sport.

Curious, Audubon stopped and waited by some poppies for a closer look at the insects.

While Giles thought this a curious state of affairs, he did not report it until three days after that, on the tenth, when he again passed by the house on his way to Aylesbury, and, stopping for a similar reason, found nothing altered in any way in the house.