different between interesting vs curious

English

Etymology

From interest +? -ing.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??nt??st??/, /??nt??st??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??nt???st??/, /??nt(?)??st??/, /??nt(?)??st??/, /??nt???st??/
• ,

Adjective

interesting (comparative more interesting, superlative most interesting)

1. (obsolete) Of concern; affecting, important.
   • 1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford 2008, p. 48:

     He indeed had good reason to be offended; for though Dr. Swinfen's motive was good, he inconsiderately betrayed a matter deeply interesting and of great delicacy, which had been entrusted to him in conference […] .

2. Arousing or holding the attention or interest of someone.
   • 2015-11-22, Stan Lee, "Marvel's Stan Lee: 'I'd never really thought of doing comics for a living.'", The Guardian:

     Comics were just another form of entertainment to me, but it got to be more and more interesting every day.

3. (euphemistic) Pregnant. [from 18th c.]
   • 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, vol. III, ch. 88:

     I found myself in a fair way of being a mother; and that I might be near my own relations, in such an interesting situation, I and my dear companion departed from H—n, not without great reluctance […] .

   • 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby:

     Mrs Lenville (who, as has been before hinted, was in an interesting state) rushed from the rear rank of ladies, and uttering a piercing scream threw herself upon the body.

   • 1928, WB Maxwell, We Forget Because We Must:

     I'm afraid I seem to make heavy weather of my interesting condition.

Synonyms

• absorbing

Antonyms

• uninteresting
• boring

Derived terms

• interesting condition
• interestingly
• interestingness

Translations

Verb

interesting

1. present participle of interest

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)

1. 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
2. Caused by curiosity.
3. Leading one to ask questions about; somewhat odd, out of the ordinary, or unusual.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:strange

   Antonym: uncurious
4. (obsolete) Careful, fastidious, particular; (specifically) demanding a high standard of excellence, difficult to satisfy.
5. (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)

1. (chemistry, rare) Containing or pertaining to trivalent curium.

References

Further reading

• curiosity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• curious (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia