inquisitive

English

Etymology

Late 14th Century, from Old French: inquisitif, from Late Latin: inquisitivus, from Latin: inquisitus, past participle of inquirere, also see: inquire.

Adjective

inquisitive

1. Eager to acquire knowledge.
2. Too curious; overly interested; nosy.
   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses Episode 16

     --Everybody gets their own ration of luck, they say. Now you mention it his face was familiar to me. But, leaving that for the moment, how much did you part with, he queried, if I am not too inquisitive?

Derived terms

• inquisitively
• inquisitiveness

Translations

eager to acquire knowledge

Dutch: nieuwsgierig (nl), inquisitief (nl) Esperanto: scivola (eo) Finnish: utelias, tiedonhaluinen, tiedonjanoinen French: inquisitif (fr)

Russian: любознательный (ru) Serbian: радознао (sr) (radoznao) m., знатижељан (sr) (znatiželjan) m. Spanish: inquisitivo (es)

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Italian

Adjective

inquisitive f.

1. feminine plural form of inquisitivo