curious

[kyoo r-ee-uh s] /ˈkyʊər i əs/
adjective
1.
eager to learn or know; inquisitive.
2.
prying; meddlesome.
3.
arousing or exciting speculation, interest, or attention through being inexplicable or highly unusual; odd; strange:
a curious sort of person; a curious scene.
4.
Archaic.
  1. made or prepared skillfully.
  2. done with painstaking accuracy or attention to detail:
    a curious inquiry.
  3. careful; fastidious.
  4. marked by intricacy or subtlety.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English < Latin cūriōsus careful, inquisitive, equivalent to cūri- (combining form of cūra care) + -ōsus -ous. See cure
Related forms
curiously, adverb
curiousness, noun
noncurious, adjective
noncuriously, adverb
noncuriousness, noun
overcurious, adjective
overcuriously, adverb
overcuriousness, noun
supercurious, adjective
supercuriously, adverb
supercuriousness, noun
uncurious, adjective
uncuriously, adverb
Synonyms
1. inquiring, interested. 2. spying, peeping. Curious, inquisitive, meddlesome, prying refer to taking an undue (and petty) interest in others' affairs. Curious implies a desire to know what is not properly one's concern: curious about a neighbor's habits. Inquisitive implies asking impertinent questions in an effort to satisfy curiosity: inquisitive about a neighbor's habits. Meddlesome implies thrusting oneself into and taking an active part in other people's affairs entirely unasked and unwelcomed: a meddlesome cousin who tries to run the affairs of a family. Prying implies a meddlesome and persistent inquiring into others' affairs: a prying reporter inquiring into the secrets of a business firm. 3. singular, novel, rare.
Antonyms
1, 2. indifferent.
Examples from the web for curious
  • Whether for career development or their own edification, the culinarily curious can gorge on all kinds of food knowledge online.
  • Childhood homes of the famous draw curious tourists.
  • Today, there are several hotels that provide accommodations to curious travelers.
  • Slip out the back door, and a few curious chickens will take time out from bug patrol to welcome you to the nursery proper.
  • The degree of sterility does not strictly follow systematic affinity, but is governed by several curious and complex laws.
  • His reflections are sometimes prefaced by curious confidences and self-revelations which give them the air of a diary.
  • These are curious shows, full of characters and groups.
  • It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days.
  • When old age actually came, something curious happened.
  • They'll draw curious, often appalled stares from strangers and mockery from your family.
British Dictionary definitions for curious

curious

/ˈkjʊərɪəs/
adjective
1.
eager to learn; inquisitive
2.
overinquisitive; prying
3.
interesting because of oddness or novelty; strange; unexpected
4.
(rare) (of workmanship, etc) highly detailed, intricate, or subtle
5.
(obsolete) fastidious or hard to please
Derived Forms
curiously, adverb
curiousness, noun
Word Origin
C14: from Latin cūriōsus taking pains over something, from cūra care
Word Origin and History for curious
adj.

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).