inquisitive
Syllables: in·qui·si·tive/ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv/
inquisitive adjective: eager to acquire knowledge; acquisitive.
Adjective
inquisitive (comparative more inquisitive, superlative most inquisitive)
- Eager to acquire knowledge; acquisitive.
- […] a young, inquiſitive and ſprightly Genius; […]1741, I[saac] Watts, “Of living Instructions and Lectures, of Teachers and Learners”, in The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […]...
- Synonyms:
- inquiring
- Too curious; overly interested; nosy.
- A wiſe man is not inquiſitive about things impertinent; […]1725, Homer, “Book XI”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume III, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, footnote, page 75
- Huddled together in loathsome files, they squat there over night, or until an inquisitive policeman breaks up the congregation with his club, which in Mulberry Street has always free swing.1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “A Raid on the Stale-beer Dives”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 77
inquisitive meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
inquisitive in Hindi
- eager to acquire knowledge
- जिज्ञासु jijñāsu, कुतूहली kutūhlī, प्रश्नशील praśnaśīl
inquisitive in Tamil
- அறி அவாமிக்க, உசாவுகின்ற, பிறர் செய்தியில் ஆர்வம் காட்டுகின்ற
inquisitive in Urdu
- باز جو, پرتجسس
inquisitive in Bengali
- eager to acquire knowledge
- পর্যুৎসুক porjutśuk
More languagesFewer languages
- inquisitive in Malayalam
- പരിശോധനാ വാസനയുള്ള, കൗതുകശീലമുള്ള, അറിവാനാഗ്രഹിക്കുന്ന, ചുഴിഞ്ഞു നോക്കുന്ന
- inquisitive in Kannada
- ಕೆದಕುವ, ಕೌತುಕ ಪ್ರಕೃತಿಯ, ಜಿಜ್ಞಾಸೆಯ, ತಿಳಿಯುವ ಕುತೂಹಲವುಳ್ಳ
- inquisitive in Indonesian
- asyik tanya, ingin tahu, cerudik, kepo
- inquisitive in Persian
- کنجکاو konjkâv
- inquisitive in Thai
- สอดรู้สอดเห็น sɔ̀ɔt-rúu-sɔ̀ɔt-hěn, ขี้เสือก
- inquisitive in Vietnamese
- tò mò, dòm ngó
Examples of inquisitive in a sentence
- No, no, Bertha; we must not give them reason to say that their neighbours are inquisitive.1892, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “[Beyond the City] The New-comers”, in The Great Shadow and Beyond the City, Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, […]...
- But leaving that for the moment, how much did you part with, he queried, if I am not too inquisitive?1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 16: Eumaeus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 575:
Synonyms of inquisitive
Forms of inquisitive
| comparative | more inquisitive |
|---|---|
| superlative | most inquisitive |
Origin of inquisitive
Late 14th century, from Old French inquisitif, from Late Latin inquisitivus, from Latin inquisitus, past participle of inquirere. See also inquire.
Words formed from inquisitive
Phrases with inquisitive
Questions about inquisitive
- What does inquisitive mean?
- Inquisitive means eager to acquire knowledge; acquisitive.
- What is inquisitive in Hindi?
- Inquisitive in Hindi is जिज्ञासु (jijñāsu), कुतूहली (kutūhlī), प्रश्नशील (praśnaśīl). See Inquisitive meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use inquisitive in a sentence?
- No, no, Bertha; we must not give them reason to say that their neighbours are inquisitive.
- What part of speech is inquisitive?
- Inquisitive is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce inquisitive?
- Inquisitive is pronounced /ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv/.
Words near inquisitive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: inquisitive (page history and authors); inquisitive (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); inquisitive (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); inquisitive (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); inquisitive (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-inquisitive.wav.
Cite this entry: “inquisitive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/inquisitive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
