Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Curious
Cu′ri-ous
(k?′r?-?s)
, Adj.
1.
Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact.
[Obs.]
Little
curious
in her clothes. Fuller.
How shall we,
If he be
If he be
curious
, work upon his faith? Beau. & Fl.
2.
Exhibiting care or nicety; artfully constructed; elaborate; wrought with elegance or skill.
To devise
curious
works. Ex. xxxv. 32
His body couched in a
curious
bed. Shakespeare
3.
Careful or anxious to learn; eager for knowledge; given to research or inquiry; habitually inquisitive; prying; – sometimes with after or of.
It is a pity a gentleman so very
curious
after things that were elegant and beautiful should not have been as curious
as to their origin, their uses, and their natural history. Woodward.
4.
Exciting attention or inquiry; awakening surprise; inviting and rewarding inquisitiveness; not simple or plain; strange; rare.
“Acurious tale” Shak.
A multitude of
curious
analogies. Macaulay.
Many a quaint and
curious
volume of forgotten lore. E. A. Poe.
Abstruse investigations in recondite branches of learning or sciense often bring to light
curious
results. C. J. Smith.
Curious arts
, magic.
[Obs.]
Syn. – Inquisitive; prying. See
Inquisitive
. Webster 1828 Edition
Curious
CURIOUS
,Adj.
1.
Strongly desirous to see what is novel, or to discover what is unknown; solicitous to see or to know; inquisitive.Be not curious in unnecessary matters, nor to pry into the concerns of your neighbors.
2.
Habitually inquisitive; addicted to research or enquiry; as a man of a curious turn of mind; sometimes followed by after, and sometimes by of.Curious after things elegant and beautiful; curious of antiquities.
3.
Accurate; careful not to mistake; solicitous to be correct.Men were not curious what syllables or particles they used.
4.
Careful; nice; solicitous in selection; difficult to please.A temperate man is not curious of delicacies.
5.
Nice; exact; subtile; made with care.Both these senses embrace their objects--with a more curious discrimination.
6.
Artful; nicely diligent.Each ornament about her seemly lies, by curious chance, or careless art, composed.
7.
Wrought with care and art; elegant; neat; finished; as a curious girdle; curious work Exodus 28 and 30.8.
Requiring care and nicety; as curious arts. Acts 19.9.
Rigid; severe; particular. [Little used.]10.
Rare; singular; a a curious fact.