Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

curiously

/ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs.li/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.20 in modern English

Syllables: cu-ri-ous-ly
IPA: /ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs.li/

14

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

In a curious manner; with curiosity; inquisitively.

adv

Oddly; in a strange or unexpected way.

Example Sentences

"The children peeped curiously into the attic room."
"Curiously, when I arrived home, the front door was standing ajar."
"Performing a curiously melancholy, undulating developpe, the dancers point their legs at each other like accusing fingers."
"“The Life of a Showgirl” doesn’t quite fulfill this prophecy — or, rather, it delivers only technically. It is a work of hyperprofessional songcraft and production, but its emotional texture is curiously flat and joyless."

Etymology

From Middle English curiusly, curyously, curiosly, curiouseliche, curyouslyche, equivalent to curious + -ly.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: curiusly

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs.li/
British English: /ˈkjʊə.ɹi.əs.li/

Inflected Forms

more curiously (comparative) most curiously (superlative)

Derived Forms

overcuriously

Phrases

curiously recurring template pattern

Synonyms

inexplicably oddly peculiarly inquisitively interrogatively

Rhymes With

furiously

Questions

How do you pronounce curiously?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs.li/.
What does curiously mean?: In a curious manner; with curiosity; inquisitively.
Where does curiously come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce curiously

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “curiously”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs.li/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “curiously”.
Repeat and practice — Say “curiously” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.