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curiosity
[ kyoor-ee-os-i-tee ]
noun
- 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.
- a curious, rare, or novel thing:
Exhibits on display will include such curiosities as preserved smells, infrared briefcases, and cameras hidden in coats.
- 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.
- Archaic. carefulness; fastidiousness.
curiosity
/ ˌʊəɪˈɒɪɪ /
noun
- an eager desire to know; inquisitiveness
- the quality of being curious; strangeness
- ( as modifier )
the ring had curiosity value only
- something strange or fascinating
- a rare or strange object; curio
- obsolete.fastidiousness
Other Word Forms
- ԴDz···Dz··ٲ noun
- ····Dz··ٲ noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of curiosity1
Idioms and Phrases
- 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
Bob had that natural inclination, along with a strong curiosity and that thing Ray Bradbury called ‘optimistic behaviorism,’ the ability to be realistic and practical.”
As a lady preacher, she was a curiosity; as one who welcomed all races, she went against the cultural norms.
If adults don't answer children's curiosity, kids go looking on their own.
Little did she know that it was part of his training for the annual World Coal Carrying Championships, but that did not stop her curiosity.
Today, the United States contends with an administration that reviles scientific expertise and quells curiosity.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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