different between curious vs eccentric
curious
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English curious (“careful, meticulous; ingenious, skilful; expert, learned; concerned about (something); eager; curious, inquisitive; prying; carefully or skilfully made; exquisite, fine; sophisticated; recondite; magic or occult; absorbing, painstaking”) [and other forms], from Old French curios, curius (modern French curieux (“curious, inquisitive; interesting, quaint, unusual”)), and its etymon Latin c?ri?sus (“careful; complicated, elaborate; careworn; curious, inquisitive; meddlesome, prying”), from c?ra (“care, concern; anxiety; sorrow; attention; administration, management; command, office; guardianship”) (from Proto-Indo-European *k?eys- (“to heed”)) + -?sus (suffix meaning ‘full of, prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). The English word is cognate with Italian curioso (“curious, inquisitive”), Occitan curios, Portuguese curioso (“curious, inquisitive; odd, out of the ordinary”), Spanish curioso (“curious, inquisitive; interesting; odd, strange; quaint”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?kj??.?i.?s/, /?kj??-/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?kj?.?i.?s/, /?kj?.i.?s/
- Rhymes: -???i?s
- Hyphenation: cu?ri?ous
Adjective
curious (comparative more curious or curiouser, superlative most curious or curiousest)
- Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying.
- Synonyms: enquiring, inquiring; (obsolete) exquisitive; investigative; (rare) peery
- Antonyms: incurious, noncurious, uncurious
- Caused by curiosity.
- Leading one to ask questions about; somewhat odd, out of the ordinary, or unusual.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:strange
- Antonym: uncurious
- (obsolete) Careful, fastidious, particular; (specifically) demanding a high standard of excellence, difficult to satisfy.
- (obsolete) Carefully or artfully constructed; made with great elegance or skill.
Usage notes
The comparative and superlative forms curiouser and curiousest are regarded as informal or nonstandard.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Etymology 2
curi(um) +? -ous
Adjective
curious (not comparable)
- (chemistry, rare) Containing or pertaining to trivalent curium.
References
Further reading
- curiosity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- curious (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
curious From the web:
- what curious mean
- what curious george
- what curious george character are you
- what curious toddlers do crossword
- what curious episode occurs in the study
- what curious episode occurs in the study of the clergyman
- what curious episode 1 in the study
- what curious episode
eccentric
English
Alternative forms
- eccentrick (obsolete)
- excentric
- excentrick (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle French excentrique, from Medieval Latin excentricus, from Ancient Greek ????????? (ékkentros, “not having the earth as the center of an orbit”), from ?? (ek, “out”) + ??????? (kéntron, “point”). Equivalent to ex- +? -centric.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?k?s?nt??k/
- (US) IPA(key): /?k?s?nt??k/
Adjective
eccentric (comparative more eccentric, superlative most eccentric)
- Not at or in the centre; away from the centre.
- 2011, Michael Laver, Ernest Sergenti. Party Competition: An Agent-Based Model, page 125,
- Strikingly, we see that party births tend systematically to be at policy positions that are significantly more eccentric than those of surviving parties, whatever decision rule these parties use.
- 2011, Michael Laver, Ernest Sergenti. Party Competition: An Agent-Based Model, page 125,
- Not perfectly circular; elliptical.
- As of 2008, Margaret had the most eccentric orbit of any moon in the solar system, though Nereid's mean eccentricity is greater.
- Having a different center; not concentric.
- (of a person) Deviating from the norm; behaving unexpectedly or differently; unconventional and slightly strange.
- 1801, Author not named, Fyfield (John), entry in Eccentric Biography; Or, Sketches of Remarkable Characters, Ancient and Modern, page 127,
- He was a man of a most eccentric turn of mind, and great singularity of conduct.
- 1807, G. H. Wilson (editor), The Eccentric Mirror, Volume 3, page 17,
- Such is not the case with Mr. Martin Van Butchell, one of the most eccentric characters to be found in the British metropolis, and a gentleman of indisputable science and abilities, but whose strange humors and extraordinary habits, have rather tended to obscure than to display the talents he possessed.
- 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture I:
- There can be no doubt that as a matter of fact a religious life, exclusively pursued, does tend to make the person exceptional and eccentric.
- 1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, 2012, unnumbered page,
- Khedron was the only other person in the city who could be called eccentric—and even his eccentricity had been planned by the designers of Diaspar.
- 1801, Author not named, Fyfield (John), entry in Eccentric Biography; Or, Sketches of Remarkable Characters, Ancient and Modern, page 127,
- (physiology, of a motion) Against or in the opposite direction of contraction of a muscle (e.g., such as results from flexion of the lower arm (bending of the elbow joint) by an external force while contracting the triceps and other elbow extensor muscles to control that movement; opening of the jaw while flexing the masseter).
- Having different goals or motives.
- a. 1626, Francis Bacon, 1867, Richard Whately (analysis and notes), James R. Boyd (editor), Essay XI: Wisdom for a Man's Self, Lord Bacon's Essays, page 171,
- […] for whatsoever affairs pass such a man's hands he crooketh them to his own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his master or state: […]
- a. 1626, Francis Bacon, 1867, Richard Whately (analysis and notes), James R. Boyd (editor), Essay XI: Wisdom for a Man's Self, Lord Bacon's Essays, page 171,
Usage notes
- (physiology, of motion): Motions that are eccentric or the opposite (concentric) are classified as isotonic (“having equal tension”), the antonym of which is isometric (“retaining equal length”). See also Isometric exercise on Wikipedia.Wikipedia .
Synonyms
- (not at or in the centre): eccentrical, excentrical
- (not perfectly circular): eccentrical, excentrical
- (having a different centre): eccentrical, excentrical
- (deviating from the norm): eccentrical, excentrical, odd, abnormal; see also Thesaurus:eccentric
- (against the contraction of a muscle):
- (having different goals or motives): eccentrical, excentrical
Antonyms
- (against the contraction of a muscle): concentric
Derived terms
- eccentrically
- eccentric anomaly
- eccentric contraction
- eccentric flint
- eccentric hypertrophy
Related terms
- central
- centric
- eccentricity
Translations
Noun
eccentric (plural eccentrics)
- One who does not behave like others.
- 1989, Jeffrey Robinson, Rainier and Grace, page 26:
- A tiny, feisty woman who always spoke her mind, Charlotte was an eccentric in the wonderful way that some women from the last century were natural eccentrics.
- 1998, Michael Gross, Life On The Edge, 2001, page ix,
- Eccentrics live longer, happier, and healthier lives than conformist normal citizens, according to the neuropsychologist David Weeks.
- 1989, Jeffrey Robinson, Rainier and Grace, page 26:
- (slang) A kook; a person of bizarre habits or beliefs.
- (geometry) A circle not having the same centre as another.
- (engineering) A disk or wheel with its axis off centre, giving a reciprocating motion.
Synonyms
- (person who does not behave like others): misfit, nonconformist; see also Thesaurus:maverick
- (person of bizarre habits or beliefs): crank, odd duck, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person
Translations
See also
- acentric
eccentric From the web:
- what eccentric means
- what eccentricity
- what eccentric and concentric movements are in a squat
- what eccentric contraction
- what eccentric exercises
- what do eccentric mean
- what is meant by eccentric
- what does eccentric mean
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