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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Curious \Cu"ri*ous\ (k?"r?-?s), a. [OF. curios, curius, F.
curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See
{Cure}.]
1. Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct;
careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [Obs.]
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Little curious in her clothes. --Fuller.
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How shall we,
If he be curious, work upon his faith? --Beau. & Fl.
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2. Exhibiting care or nicety; artfully constructed;
elaborate; wrought with elegance or skill.
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To devise curious works. --Ex. xxxv. 32
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His body couched in a curious bed. --Shak.
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3. Careful or anxious to learn; eager for knowledge; given to
research or inquiry; habitually inquisitive; prying; --
sometimes with after or of.
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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.
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4. Exciting attention or inquiry; awakening surprise;
inviting and rewarding inquisitiveness; not simple or
plain; strange; rare. "Acurious tale" --Shak.
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A multitude of curious analogies. --Macaulay.
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Many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore.
--E. A. Poe.
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Abstruse investigations in recondite branches of
learning or sciense often bring to light curious
results. --C. J. Smith.
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{Curious arts}, magic. [Obs.]
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Many . . . which used curious arts brought their
books together, and burned them. --Acts xix.
19.

Syn: Inquisitive; prying. See {Inquisitive}.
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