Standard Lemma guide

curio

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈkjʊə̯ɹiˌəʊ̯/
  • UK: /ˈkjɜːɹiˌəʊ̯/
  • UK: /ˈkjɔːɹiˌəʊ̯/
  • General-American: /ˈkjʊrioʊ/
  • General-American: /ˈkjə̯ɹiˌoʊ̯/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K Y UH1 R IY0 OW0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A strange and interesting object; something that evokes curiosity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: knickknack, trinket, collectible, oddity, antiquity

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: curiosity, oddity, oddment, peculiarity, rarity

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: object, physical object

Narrower terms: bric-a-brac, knickknack, nicknack, knickknackery, whatnot, collectible, collectable, collector's item, showpiece, piece de resistance

History

Etymology

Clipping of curiosity, 1851. Compare cabinet of curiosities and French objet de curiosité.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 古玩 (gǔwán) — strange and interesting object
  • Chinese Mandarin: 古董 (gǔdǒng) — strange and interesting object
  • Czech: kuriozita — strange and interesting object
  • Dutch: curiosum — strange and interesting object
  • Dutch: curiositeit — strange and interesting object
  • Finnish: kummallinen esine — strange and interesting object
  • Finnish: erikoisuus — strange and interesting object
  • Finnish: kummallisuus — strange and interesting object
  • Finnish: kuriositeetti — strange and interesting object
  • Japanese: 骨董品 (kottōhin) — strange and interesting object
  • Korean: 골동품 (goldongpum) — strange and interesting object
  • Māori: onge — strange and interesting object
  • Romanian: ciudățenie — strange and interesting object
  • Romanian: curiozitate — strange and interesting object
  • Russian: дико́вина (dikóvina) — strange and interesting object
  • Russian: курьёз (kurʹjóz) — strange and interesting object
  • Russian: ре́дкость (rédkostʹ) — strange and interesting object
  • Spanish: curiosidad — strange and interesting object
  • Spanish: objeto curioso — strange and interesting object