Curiosity

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: cu=ri=os=i=ty

CIDE DICTIONARY

Curiosity, n. [OE. curiouste, curiosite, OF. curioseté, curiosité, F. curiosité, fr. L. curiositas, fr. curiosus. See Curious, and cf. Curio.].

•  The state or quality or being curious; nicety; accuracy; exactness; elaboration.  Bacon.  [1913 Webster]

  "When thou wast in thy gilt and thy perfume, they mocked thee for too much curiosity."  [1913 Webster]

  "A screen accurately cut in tapiary work . . . with great curiosity."  [1913 Webster]
•  Disposition to inquire, investigate, or seek after knowledge; a desire to gratify the mind with new information or objects of interest; inquisitiveness.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  That which is curious, or fitted to excite or reward attention.  [1913 Webster]

  "We took a ramble together to see the curiosities of this great town."  [1913 Webster]

  "There hath been practiced also a curiosity, to set a tree upon the north side of a wall, and, at a little hieght, to draw it through the wall, etc."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Curiosity, n. (pl. -ies)
1 an eager desire to know; inquisitiveness.
2 strangeness.
3 a strange, rare, or interesting object.

Etymology

ME f. OF curiouset{eacute} f. L curiositas -tatis (as CURIOUS)

DEVIL DICTIONARY

Curiosity

n. An objectionable quality of the female mind. The desire to know whether or not a woman is cursed with curiosity is one of the most active and insatiable passions of the masculine soul.

THESAURUS

Curiosity

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Curiosity

Unconformity

N unconformity, nonconformity, unconformity, disconformity, unconventionality, informality, abnormity, abnormality, anomaly, anomalousness, exception, peculiarity, infraction of law, breach, of law, violation of law, violation of custom, violation of usage, infringement of law, infringement of custom, infringement of usage, teratism, eccentricity, bizarrerie, oddity, je ne sais quoi, monster, monstrosity, rarity, freak, freak of Nature, weirdo, mutant, rouser, snorter, individuality, idiosyncrasy, originality, mannerism, aberration, irregularity, variety, singularity, exemption, salvo, nonconformist, nondescript, character, original, nonesuch, nonsuch, monster, prodigy, wonder, miracle, curiosity, flying fish, black sheep, black swan, lusus naturae, rara avis, queer fish, mongrel, random breed, half-caste, half-blood, half-breed, metis, crossbreed, hybrid, mule, hinny, mulatto, tertium quid, hermaphrodite, phoenix, chimera, hydra, sphinx, minotaur, griffin, griffon, centaur, saggittary, kraken, cockatrice, wyvern, roc, dragon, sea serpent, mermaid, merman, merfolk, unicorn, Cyclops, men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders, teratology, fish out of water, neither one thing nor another, neither fish nor fowl, neither fish flesh nor fowl nor good red herring, one in a million, one in a way, one in a thousand, outcast, outlaw, off the beaten track, oasis, uncomformable, exceptional, abnormal, abnormous, anomalous, anomalistic, out of order, out of place, out of keeping, out of tune, out of one's element, irregular, arbitrary, teratogenic, lawless, informal, aberrant, stray, wandering, wanton, peculiar, exclusive, unnatural, eccentric, egregious, out of the beaten track, off the beaten track, out of the common, out of the common run, beyond the pale of, out of the pale of, misplaced, funny, unusual, unaccustomed, uncustomary, unwonted, uncommon, rare, curious, odd, extraordinary, out of the ordinary, strange, monstrous, wonderful, unexpected, unaccountable, outre, out of the way, remarkable, noteworthy, queer, quaint, nondescript, none such, sui generis, unfashionable, fantastic, grotesque, bizarre, outlandish, exotic, tombe des nues, preternatural, denaturalized, heterogeneous, heteroclite, amorphous, mongrel, amphibious, epicene, half blood, hybrid, androgynous, androgynal, asymmetric, adelomorphous, bisexual, hermaphrodite, monoclinous, qualified, singular, unique, one-of-a-kind, newfangled, novel, non-classical, original, unconventional, unheard of, unfamiliar, undescribed, unprecedented, unparalleled, unexampled, unconformably, except, unless, save barring, beside, without, save and except, let alone, however, yet, but, once in a blue moon, once in a million years, Int, what on earth!, what in the world!, What the devil!, Holy cow!, Can you top that?, Sacre bleu, never was seen the like, never was heard the like, never was known the like, I could hardly believe it, I saw it, but I didn't believe it.

Prodigy

N prodigy, phenomenon, wonder, wonderment, marvel, miracle, monster, curiosity, lion, sight, spectacle, jeu de theatre, coup de theatre, gazingstock, sign, St. Elmo's fire, St. Elmo's light, portent, bursting of a shell, bursting of a bomb, volcanic eruption, peal of thunder, thunder-clap, thunder-bolt, what no words can paint, wonders of the world, annus mirabilis, dignus vindice nodus, natura il fece e poi roppe la stampa.

Curiosity

N curiosity, interest, thirst for knowledge, thirst for truth, curiosity, curiousness, inquiring mind, inquisitiveness, omnivorous intellect, devouring mind, inquirer, sightseer, quidnunc, newsmonger, Paul Pry, eavesdropper, gossip, rubberneck, intellectual, seeker, seeker after truth, curious, inquisitive, burning with curiosity, overcurious, inquiring, prying, snoopy, nosy, peering, prurient, inquisitorial, inquisitory, curious as a cat, agape, what's the matter? what next? consumed with curios, curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back, curiouser and curiouser, curiosity, interest, thirst for knowledge, thirst for truth, curiosity, curiousness, inquiring mind, inquisitiveness, omnivorous intellect, devouring mind, inquirer, sightseer, quidnunc, newsmonger, Paul Pry, eavesdropper, gossip, rubberneck, intellectual, seeker, seeker after truth, curious, inquisitive, burning with curiosity, overcurious, inquiring, prying, snoopy, nosy, peering, prurient, inquisitorial, inquisitory, curious as a cat, agape, what's the matter? what next? consumed with curios, curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back, curiouser and curiouser.

Expectation

N expectation, expectance, expectancy, anticipation, reckoning, calculation, foresight, contemplation, prospection, lookout, prospect, perspective, horizon, vista, destiny, suspense, waiting, abeyance, curiosity, anxious expectation, ardent expectation, eager expectation, breathless expectation, sanguine expectation, torment of Tantalus, hope, trust, auspices, assurance, confidence, presumption, reliance, expectant, expecting, in expectation, on the watch, open-eyed, open-mouthed, in wide-eyed anticipation, agape, gaping, all agog, on tenterhooks, on tiptoe, on the tiptoe of expectation, aux aguets, ready, curious, looking forward to, expected, long expected, foreseen, in prospect, prospective, in one's eye, in one's view, in the horizon, on the horizon, just over the horizon, just around the corner, around the corner, impending, on the watch, with breathless expectation, with bated breath, with rapt anticipation, arrectis auribus, we shall see, nous verrons, expectation whirls me round, the light at the end of the tunnel.