Etymograph

English

incurious

Incurious comes from Latin incūriōsus ‘careless’, and goes back to cūriōsus ‘careful’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcūriōsus1‘careful’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincūriōsus1‘careless’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1831incurious1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English incurious
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “A genuine Londoner is the most incurious animal in…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcūriōsusWiktionary, English incurious‘careful’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincūriōsusWiktionary, English incurious‘careless’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1831incuriousWiktionary, English incurious. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “A genuine Londoner is the most incurious animal in…”

The story

Attested since the 1560s, originally meaning ‘heedless and negligent.’ The sense of ‘uninquisitive’ dates from the 1610s, and the sense of ‘unworthy of attention’ from 1747.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin incūriōsus ‘careless’

curiosity, 2 more

Today it means

adj Lacking interest or curiosity; uninterested.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “incurious”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin cūriōsus / incurious

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