curio

noun cu·rio \ ˈkyu̇r-ē-ˌō , ˈkyər- \

|Updated on: 17 Jul 2018

Definition of curio

plural curios

: something (such as a decorative object) considered novel, rare, or bizarre : curiosity; also : an unusual or bizarre person

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Examples of curio in a Sentence

She loves to browse the shops in small towns, looking for curios.
be careful of the fragile curios on the end tables

Recent Examples of curio from the Web

At an entrance of the University of Florida’s Steinmetz Hall, home of what one university survey rates as the world’s top entomology department, sits a display case of bejeweled curios.

— jack payne, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Insects as art: How Florida can overcome the yuck factor," 9 July 2018
Chicago was struck by the way their art-making was tucked between laundry and cooking, their work displayed among toys and family curios.

— sasha weiss, New York Times, "Judy Chicago, the Godmother," 7 Feb. 2018
Seldom seen in New York since its Broadway debut in 1943, the show now plays as a beguiling curio.

— david rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Carmen Jones': Theater Review," 28 June 2018
The new location also will have seasonal boils from shrimp to crawfish and a New Orleans-style retail area selling curios, collectibles and specialty food items.

— joyce smith, kansascity, "Beignets, gumbo & more: City Market cafe adding Westport location," 25 June 2018
So that’s what Alvaro Rivera and other artisans in one small Colombian town along the Venezuelan border are doing — using the once mighty bolivar as raw material to make handbags, bird sculptures and other curios.

— jim wyss, miamiherald, "Venezuela's currency is worth so little that artisans are making purses out it," 20 June 2018
Some curios carry an estimate as low as $100 (a set of Harvard cuff links), while other pieces top $70 million (a Henri Matisse that hung in the Westchester living room).

— gerard baker, WSJ, "The 10-Point.," 11 Apr. 2018
The cozy space is filled with curios, a Buddhist shrine, a lending library, a rack of local postcards, board games and layers of notices about local events.

— Anchorage Daily News, "The best part of waking up: Dive into Anchorage’s coffee culture," 3 May 2018
The 9,000-square-foot building that houses the East Bay’s largest collection of oddball curios has been sold.

— carl nolte, San Francisco Chronicle, "The fun may be about to end for Playland-Not-at-the-Beach," 23 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'curio.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.