different between romantic vs curious

English

Alternative forms

• romantick (obsolete)

Etymology

From romant +? -ic, or borrowed from Late Latin romanticus (“(of a poem) having qualities of a romance”). Compare French romantique, which is borrowed from English. Also compare Spanish romántico, Portuguese romântico, Italian romantico, Dutch romantisch, and German romantisch and Romantiker (“a composer of Romantic music”), all of which are borrowed from English or French.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /????mænt?k/, /??-/
• (General American) enPR: r?-m?n?(t)?k, IPA^(key): /?o??mæn(t)?k/, [?o??mænt?k], [??-], [-mæ???k], [-me??nt?k], [-me?????k]
• Rhymes: -ænt?k

Adjective

romantic (comparative more romantic, superlative most romantic)

1. (chiefly historical) Of a work of literature, a writer etc.: being like or having the characteristics of a romance, or poetic tale of a mythic or quasi-historical time; fantastic. [from 17th c.]
2. (obsolete) Fictitious, imaginary. [17th-20th c.]
3. Fantastic, unrealistic (of an idea etc.); fanciful, sentimental, impractical (of a person). [from 17th c.]
   • 1993 May 16, "Return to New York" Jeeves and Wooster, Series 3, Episode 6:

     R. Jeeves: In my experience, ladies who spell Gladys with a W are seldom noted for their reliability, sir. It gives them romantic notions.
     B.W. Wooster: With a W, Jeeves? No, no, no, no. You spell it with a G.
     R. Jeeves: If I might draw your attention to the signature on the portrait, sir.
     B.W. Wooster: Good Lord! G-W?
     R. Jeeves: I blame Alfred Lord Tennyson and his Idylls of the King. It also accounts for Kathryn, Ysabel, and Ethyl, all spelt with a Y, but Gwladys is a particularly virulent form, sir.

4. Having the qualities of romance (in the sense of something appealing deeply to the imagination); invoking on a powerfully sentimental idea of life; evocative, atmospheric. [from 17th c.]
   • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:

     Somehow she wasn't a real sister, but that only made her the more romantic.
5. Pertaining to an idealised form of love (originally, as might be felt by the heroes of a romance); conducive to romance; loving, affectionate. [from 18th c.]

   Antonyms: platonic, nonsexual

6. Alternative form of Romantic [from 18th c.]

Antonyms

• nonromantic, unromantic, antiromantic, aromantic

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

romantic (plural romantics)

1. A person with romantic character (a character like those of the knights in a mythic romance).
2. A person who is behaving romantically (in a manner befitting someone who feels an idealized form of love).

   Oh, flowers! You're such a romantic.

Descendants

• ? French: romantique
• ? Italian: romantico

Translations

References

Further reading

• "romantic" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 274.

Romanian

Etymology

From French romantique.

Adjective

romantic m or n (feminine singular romantic?, masculine plural romantici, feminine and neuter plural romantice)

1. romantic

Declension

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