curiosity
noun
ˌkyər-\
Definition of curiosity
1 : desire to know:
a : inquisitive interest in others' concerns : nosiness The construction inside their house aroused the curiosity of their neighbors.
b : interest leading to inquiry intellectual curiosity Her natural curiosity led her to ask more questions.
2 archaic : undue nicety or fastidiousness
Keep scrolling for more
Synonyms & Antonyms for curiosity
Synonyms
curiousness, inquisitiveness, nosiness
Antonyms
Visit the Thesaurus for More
Examples of curiosity in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bette Midler and Tony Bennett looked on with curiosity. — Chloe Malle, Vogue, "For He’s a Jolly Goodfella! Celebrating Martin Scorsese at Chanel’s MoMA Film Benefit," 20 Nov. 2018 Remember, sweet Pisces, that your characteristic wellsprings of compassion start with curiosity. — Bess Matassa, Teen Vogue, "Monthly Lovescopes October 2018," 3 Oct. 2018 Mason and Rylan played with rocks and looked on with curiosity at the hundreds of Marines. — Melissa Nelson Gabriel, ajc, "Marine honored for saving toddler's life," 2 July 2018 Viktoria Latishova, a 19-year-old waitress in Saransk on the edge of the steppe, rejoiced at meeting an American for the first time, spilling with curiosity despite her limited English. — Angela Charlton, The Christian Science Monitor, "World Cup host Russia defies Soviet-era, hostile image with smiles," 20 June 2018 When some strangers approached us and regarded me with curiosity, my father beamed. — John Blake, CNN, "The blurring of racial lines won't save America. Why 'racial fluidity' is a con," 11 June 2018 His time on that initial show meshed with a curiosity about childhood development. — K. Austin Collins, HWD, "Won’t You Be My Neighbor?," 8 June 2018 Sun Juong, now burning with curiosity, sat up for a closer look. — Chicago Tribune, chicagotribune.com, "Algren Award runner-up: "Most Best Happy Korean Bright Star" by Michelle Massie," 2 June 2018 This is a week for remembering how to regard the world, and your own life too, with curiosity, with wonder, with a funny kind of surprise. — Claire Comstock-gay, The Cut, "Madame Clairevoyant: Horoscopes for the Week of May 7," 7 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'curiosity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Learn More about curiosity
From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
Words We Re-Learned at TED2015
Words We Re-Learned at TED2015
9 Big Ideas that We'll Be Thinking About All Year
Dictionary Entries near curiosity
Statistics for curiosity
Last Updated
6 Dec 2018
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for curiosity
The first known use of curiosity was in the 14th century
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for curiosity
curiosity
noun
English Language Learners Definition of curiosity
: the desire to learn or know more about something or someone
: something that is interesting because it is unusual
See the full definition for curiosity in the English Language Learners Dictionary
curiosity
noun
\
Kids Definition of curiosity
1 : an eager desire to learn and often to learn things that are another's concern “What's happening?” he asked with curiosity.
2 : something strange or unusual They both sat looking at Harriet as though she were a curiosity put on television to entertain them.— Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy
3 : an object or article valued because it is strange or rare
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on curiosity
What made you want to look up curiosity? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Late Autumn 2018 Words of the Day Quiz
-
- Which is a synonym of yahoo?
Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Share curiosity
Resources for curiosity