curiosity

1 an eager desire to find out about things that are often none of one's business our neighbor's curiosity about what we were doing last night was really offensive Synonyms curiousness, inquisitiveness, nosiness Related Words attentiveness, concern, interest, regard, wonderment; inquiry, interrogation, prying, questioning; interference, intrusiveness, meddlesomeness, obtrusiveness, officiousness; eavesdropping, rubbernecking Near Antonyms apathy, disinterestedness, disregard, indifference, unconcern Antonyms incuriosity, incuriousness

2 something strange or unusual that is an object of interest the museum's curiosities include items constructed entirely out of toothpicks Synonyms curio, exotic, objet d'art (also objet), oddity, oddment, rarity Related Words found object, objet trouvé; curiosa, ephemera, virtu (or vertu); marvel, prodigy, rara avis, rare bird, wonder; abnormality, anomaly, freak, monster, monstrosity; malformation, mutant, mutation

3 a small object displayed for its attractiveness or interest an assortment of curiosities from around the world that the family picked up during various vacations Synonyms bauble, bibelot, curio, knickknack, doodad, gaud, gewgaw (also geegaw), gimcrack, kickshaw, novelty, ornamental, tchotchke, trinketRelated Words bijouterie, bric-a-brac, gimcrackery, trinketry, trumpery, virtu (or vertu); bagatelle, trifle; figurine, objet d'art (also objet), ornament; keepsake, memento, souvenir; conversation piece; collectible (or collectable), collector's item

4 an odd or peculiar habit Charles Dickens typically endowed his characters with an array of endearing curiosities Synonyms crotchet, idiosyncrasy, eccentricity, erraticism, individualism, kink, mannerism, oddity, peculiarity, quiddity, quip, quirk, singularity, tic, trick, twistRelated Words affectation, airs; attribute, characteristic, mark, property, trait; custom, habit, pattern, practice (also practise), way, wont; addiction; abnormality, neuroticism, perversion, weirdness; disposition, genius, leaning, partiality; bent, inclination, penchant, predilection, predisposition, proclivity, propensity, tendency, turn; attitude, character, humor, identity, individuality, nature, personality, temperamentNear Antonyms conformity, sameness