curiosity

/ˈkjʊriˌɑsədi/

/kəriˈɒsɪti/

Other forms: curiosities

Curiosity is the urge you feel to know more about something. If you find a diary in a coffee shop, curiosity will make you want to look inside — but respect for the writer's privacy may convince you not to.

Curiosity is the state of being curious: inquisitive, wondering, ready to poke around and figure something out. The word used to mean "very, very careful," and only in the last few hundred years turned into a word expressing the desire to know more. Maybe that's because when you're poking around in secret business, you need to be very, very careful. We also call weird things curiosities, like a phone shaped like a duck, or a shark in a jar.

Definitions of curiosity

1. noun

   a state in which you want to learn more about something
   synonyms: wonder

   types:

   desire to know, lust for learning, thirst for knowledge

   curiosity that motivates investigation and study

   interest, involvement

   a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something

   curiousness, inquisitiveness

   a state of active curiosity

   enthusiasm

   a lively interest

   concern

   something that interests you because it is important or affects you

   nosiness, prying, snoopiness

   offensive inquisitiveness

   type of:

   cognitive state, state of mind

   the state of a person's cognitive processes
2. noun

   something unusual, maybe worthy of collecting
   synonyms: curio, oddity, oddment, peculiarity, rarity

   types:

   bric-a-brac, knickknack, knickknackery, nicknack, whatnot

   miscellaneous curios

   collectable, collectible

   things considered to be worth collecting (not necessarily valuable or antique)

   collector's item, piece de resistance, showpiece

   the outstanding item (the prize piece or main exhibit) in a collection

   chachka, tchotchke, tsatske, tshatshke

   (Yiddish) an inexpensive showy trinket

   rariora

   (plural) rare collector's items

   type of:

   object, physical object

   a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow