curiosity

[kyoor-ee-os-i-tee]

noun

plural

curiosities 

1. the desire to learn or know about anything; inquisitiveness.

   The lesson provoked their curiosity about the natural world.

   She feels that tolerance is fed by knowledge, an open mind, and curiosity about others.

2. a curious, rare, or novel thing.

   Exhibits on display will include such curiosities as preserved smells, infrared briefcases, and cameras hidden in coats.

3. a strange, curious, or interesting quality or feature.

   How bankers from Nova Scotia set up in the Caribbean in the 1880s is a curiosity of financial history.

   One of the human brain's many curiosities is its tendency to see faces in abstract shapes.

4. Archaic.,  carefulness; fastidiousness.

curiosity

/ ˌkjʊərɪˈɒsɪtɪ /

noun

1. an eager desire to know; inquisitiveness

2. 1. the quality of being curious; strangeness

   2. ( as modifier )

      the ring had curiosity value only

3. something strange or fascinating

4. a rare or strange object; curio

5. obsolete,  fastidiousness

Other Word Forms

• noncuriosity noun
• overcuriosity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of curiosity¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English curiosite, either from Anglo-French or directly from Latin cūriōsitās, from cūriōs(us) curious + -itās -ity

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. curiosity killed the cat, being too inquisitive is dangerous.

   I'd really like to know what's going on in the boss's head, but then, curiosity killed the cat.

Example Sentences

Unfazed by the rain, dozens of fans passed by the home every few minutes, with many peeking through the bay window, taking selfies in the doorway and lingering with curiosity.

Read more on BBC

In a preface, the film director Guillermo del Toro likens this collection to early modern cabinets of curiosities, whose juxtapositions of natural and artificial objects were meant to expose a hidden order of existence.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“And it means your curiosity is always creating out of that space,” Buckley says.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

At $450 a month with a $500 initiation fee, Hume is pricier than Equinox, but it’s also something new: a private wellness club built for the era of self-optimization and sober curiosity.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ultimately, it isn’t Aggie’s curiosity about Madison’s murder that spurs her on, well past the borders of dangerous territory.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• concern 
• inquisitiveness 
• interest