curious
- 1Eager to know or learn about something, or showing such eagerness; sometimes, too inquisitive or prying.
A good researcher stays curious about results that don't fit the theory.
The neighbors were a little too curious about who came and went next door.
UsageSay curious about a topic and curious as to why or how.
Similarinquisitive, interested, inquiring, nosy, intrigued
Oppositeuninterested, indifferent, incurious, apathetic
Note
Older English could say so curious as to go and look, meaning keen enough to go. The same eagerness becomes prying once it turns to other people's business.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Older English used so curious as to followed by an infinitive to express sufficient eagerness to undertake an action; the item's example is illustrative, not an attributed quotation. en.wiktionary.org
- 2Odd or out of the ordinary in a way that prompts questions or interest.
The diary contained a curious mix of recipes and coded messages.
It was a curious coincidence that both letters arrived on the same day.
UsageOften a curious + noun or it is curious that: a curious coincidence.
Similarstrange, unusual, odd, bizarre, extraordinary
Oppositeordinary, normal, usual, unremarkable
Note
The eagerness turns around here: a curious thing is one that makes people curious. In older natural history the word expressed interest and admiration. The curious bulbose plant in John Ray's collection of travels and Defoe's most curious leopard, spotted and fine, are closer to remarkable than to strange. Modern use leans toward the puzzling, as in a curious coincidence or a creature as curious as the platypus.
- 3Interested in a romantic or sexual relationship with members of a particular group; used alone, short for bi-curious.
The app markets itself to conservative-curious singles who want to date across the political divide.
On her dating profile, she said she was curious and open to meeting women.
UsageHyphenated to the group: conservative-curious, Republican-curious.
Note
It follows the pattern of bi-curious but opens the first slot to any group, whether political, professional or anything else a dating profile might name. Without the attached word, curious can stand for bi-curious, or falls back to plain inquisitiveness.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Standalone curious can be a shortening of bi-curious. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 4Constructed carefully and artfully; made with great elegance or skill.
And the curious girdle of the Ephod, which is upon it, ſhall bee of the ſame, according to the worke thereof; euen of gold, of blew, and purple, and ſcarlet, and fine twined linnen.
1611, The Holy Bible, King James VersionNote
This was a word of praise for workmanship: Whetstone's curious shows, the curious bed in Shakespeare's Henry VI, the curious girdle of the ephod in the King James Bible of 1611. The "fastidious" meaning describes the careful maker, while this one describes the finely made thing.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- Curious historically praised careful or artful workmanship. en.wiktionary.org
- George Whetstone used curious to describe shows. en.wiktionary.org
- Shakespeare's Henry VI contains the phrase curious bed. folger.edu
- The King James Bible describes the ephod's girdle as curious. en.wikisource.org
- The King James Bible was first published in 1611. guides.library.yale.edu
- The fastidious sense concerns carefulness or exacting standards, whereas the workmanship sense describes the constructed thing. en.wiktionary.org
- 5Careful and fastidious; demanding a high standard of excellence and difficult to satisfy.
Honourable even in the curiousest pointes of honour, whereout there can no disgrace nor disperagement come unto her.
c. 1580, Philip Sidney, The Countesse of Pembrokes ArcadiaI am ſo fraught with curious buſineſſe, that / I leaue out ceremony.
c. 1610, William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”Note
Here the care belongs to the person, and the word often took a preposition. Jeremy Taylor (1650) praises the man who is "curious of his time," and Richard Pots and his companions (1624) were "not curious in any weather" about sleeping under trees, meaning not fussy. Shakespeare's "curious business" in The Winter's Tale is business demanding care.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- The historical sense means careful or fastidious, and could take prepositions such as of and in. en.wiktionary.org
- Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living was first published in 1650. tianmu.org
- Taylor approvingly describes someone as curious of his time. tianmu.org
- The passage is credited to Richard Pots and other contributors in the 1624 Generall Historie. en.wiktionary.org
- The account says they were not curious in any weather about sleeping under trees, meaning they were not particular about their accommodation. tile.loc.gov
- Curious business occurs in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale; Florizel speaks the words. shakespeare.mit.edu
- 6Containing or relating to curium in its trivalent (+3) state.
Note
This is a chemist's word built from curium plus -ous, and it is unrelated to the other senses despite the shared spelling. Like other -ous names in inorganic chemistry, it marks one oxidation state, here +3.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The chemical adjective is formed from curium plus -ous. en.wiktionary.org
- The chemical adjective has a separate origin from the ordinary senses. en.wiktionary.org
- The suffix -ous has historically distinguished an oxidation state in inorganic compound names. online.scuola.zanichelli.it
- In this chemical sense, curious refers to trivalent curium, corresponding to oxidation state +3. en.wiktionary.org
Practice
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Origins
Latin cūriōsus passed into Old French as curius and then into Middle English as curious. Related words include Italian, Portuguese and Spanish curioso.
Formed from curi(um) plus the suffix -ous.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- The chemical adjective curious is formed from curi(um) plus -ous. en.wiktionary.org