Dictionary Definition
curiosity
Noun
1 a state in which you want to learn more about
something [syn: wonder]
2 something unusual -- perhaps worthy of
collecting [syn: curio,
oddity, oddment, peculiarity, rarity]
User Contributed Dictionary
Noun
- inquisitiveness;
the tendency to ask questions, investigate, or explore
- Cats have a natural curiosity that sometimes gets them in
trouble.
- Out of curiosity, why are you wearing your shirt backwards? (means, "I am just wondering")
- Cats have a natural curiosity that sometimes gets them in
trouble.
- An unique or extraordinary object which arouses interest.
- He kept the strangely shaped rock as a curiosity.
Quotations
- 1956 — Arthur C.
Clarke, The City and the Stars, p 39
- "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."
Antonyms
Translations
inquisitiveness; the tendency to ask questions,
investigate, or explore
- Azeri: maraq
- Chinese: 好奇 (haoqi), 好奇心 (haoqixin), 珍品 (zhenpin)
- Czech: zvědavost
- Dutch: nieuwsgierigheid
- Finnish: uteliaisuus
- French: curiosité
- German: Neugier, Neugierde
- Greek: περιέργεια
- Hebrew: סקרנות (saqranut)
- Italian: curiosità
- Japanese: 好奇心 (こうきしん kōkishin), 珍奇 (ちんき chinki)
- Korean: 호기심
- Kurdish: mereq , hewes , balkêşî , tatêl , tatol , çavzêlkî , etir , xemxwerî
- Latin: curiositas nominative, curiositatis genitive
- Lithuanian: smalsumas , žingeidumas
- Old English: fyrwet
- Portuguese: curiosidade
- Russian: любопытство
- Slovene: radovednost
- Spanish: curiosidad
An unique or extraordinary object which arouses
interest
- Czech: kuriozita
- German: Kuriosität, Kuriosum
Related terms
- curious (adjective)
- curiosity killed the cat
Extensive Definition
curiosity in Arabic: فضول
curiosity in Catalan: Curiositat
curiosity in German: Neugier
curiosity in Spanish: Curiosidad
curiosity in French: Curiosité (faculté)
curiosity in Galician: Curiosidade
curiosity in Hebrew: סקרנות
curiosity in Dutch: Nieuwsgierigheid
curiosity in Japanese: 好奇心
curiosity in Norwegian: Kuriositet
curiosity in Portuguese: Curiosidade
(emoção)
curiosity in Romanian: Curiozitate
curiosity in Albanian: Kureshtja
curiosity in Sicilian: Curiusità
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abnormality, amazement, anomaly, ardor, astonishing thing, astonishment, bauble, bric-a-brac, cathexis, concern, concernment, concupiscence,
conversation piece, curio,
desideration,
desire, drive, eagerness, enthusiasm, exception, fancy, fantasy, freak, gazingstock, gewgaw, hope, horme, improbability, inquisitiveness,
intellectual curiosity, interest, interestedness, interference, intrusiveness, libido, lust for learning,
marvel, marvelment, matter of
interest, meddlesomeness, mind, miracle, monstrosity, museum piece,
need, nonesuch, nosiness, objet d'art, oddity, passion, phenomenon, pleasure, pleasure principle,
prodigiosity,
prodigy, prying, questioning, quite a thing,
rarity, regard, sensation, sexual desire,
sight, snooping, something else,
special interest, spectacle, strange thing,
stunner, thirst for
knowledge, trinket,
urge, want, wanting, will, will and pleasure, wish, wish fulfillment, wonder, wonderful thing, wonderment