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Curiosity vs Desire - What's the difference?

curiosity | desire |

As a noun curiosity

is (obsolete) careful, delicate construction; fine workmanship, delicacy of building.

As a verb desire is

.

curiosity

Noun

(curiosities)
  • (obsolete) Careful, delicate construction; fine workmanship, delicacy of building.
  • * 1631 , John Smith, Advertisements , in Kupperman 1988, p. 81:
  • wee built a homely thing like a barne, set upon Cratchets, covered with rafts, sedge, and earth, so also was the walls; the best of our houses of the like curiosity , but the most part farre much worse workmanship [...].
  • Inquisitiveness; the tendency to ask and learn about things by asking questions, investigating, or exploring.
  • * 1886 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde)
  • It was the first time that the lawyer had been received in that part of his friend's quarters; and he eyed the dingy, windowless structure with curiosity , and gazed round with a distasteful sense of strangeness as he crossed the theatre
  • * 1956 , , (The City and the Stars) , p 39:
  • "Certainly there is nothing wrong with Alvin's intelligence, but many of the things that should concern him seem to be a matter of complete indifference. On the other hand, he shows a morbid curiosity regarding subjects which we do not generally discuss."
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= Terrie Moffitt] [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/richie-poulton et] [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/avshalom-caspi al.
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Lifelong Impact of Early Self-Control , passage=Curiosity about the power of self-control skills, which include conscientiousness, self-discipline, and perseverance, arose from recent empirical observations that preschool Head Start, an ambitious, federally funded program of special services launched in 1965 to boost the intellectual development of needy children, has failed to achieve the goal of boosting IQ scores. But the programs have unexpectedly succeeded in lowering the former pupils’ rates of teen pregnancy, school dropout, delinquency, and work absenteeism.}}
  • A unique or extraordinary object which arouses interest.
  • Synonyms

    * inquisitiveness

    Antonyms

    * ignorance

    Derived terms

    * curiosity killed the cat

    desire

    English

    Verb

    (desir)
  • To want; to wish for earnestly.
  • * Bible, Exodus xxxiv. 24
  • Neither shall any man desire thy land.
  • * Tennyson
  • Ye desire your child to live.
  • To put a request to (someone); to entreat.
  • * 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Acts XIII:
  • And when they founde no cause of deeth in hym, yet desired they Pilate to kyll him.
  • *
  • , title=The Mirror and the Lamp , chapter=2 citation , passage=That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired .}}
  • To want emotionally or sexually.
  • To express a wish for; to entreat; to request.
  • * Bible, 2 Kings iv. 28
  • Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord?
  • * Shakespeare
  • Desire him to go in; trouble him no more.
  • To require; to demand; to claim.
  • * Spenser
  • A doleful case desires a doleful song.
  • To miss; to regret.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
  • She shall be pleasant while she lives, and desired when she dies.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (countable) Someone or something wished for.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Fantasy of navigation , passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].}}
  • (uncountable) Strong attraction, particularly romantic or sexual.
  • (uncountable) Motivation.
  • (uncountable) The feeling of desire.
  • Synonyms

    * (one or thing wished for) wanna, want-to * (motivation) wanna, want-to

    See also

    * velleity

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * English control verbs