Meaning & use
insatiably curious
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Having a desire to learn or know things that is never fully satisfied.
Grammar: Used after linking verbs like be, seem, stay: She is insatiably curious.
Patterns
- be insatiably curious about something
- remain insatiably curious
- an insatiably curious mind
My grandmother is insatiably curious about how other people live.
He stayed insatiably curious well into his eighties, always asking questions.
An insatiably curious child can wear out a whole class of teachers.
adjectivenot comparable
Showing an endless appetite for new facts, ideas, or experiences.
Grammar: Often describes minds, readers, or travelers rather than a passing mood.
Patterns
- an insatiably curious reader
- insatiably curious about the world
She is an insatiably curious reader who finishes three books a week.
Their insatiably curious approach to travel takes them off the usual routes.
A good reporter needs to be insatiably curious about ordinary life.
Common combinations
- insatiably curious about something
- The students were insatiably curious about the old photographs.
- insatiably curious mind
- Her insatiably curious mind kept the meeting lively.
- remain insatiably curious
- Great scientists remain insatiably curious all their lives.
- an insatiably curious child
- He was an insatiably curious child who took apart every clock in the house.
- insatiably curious by nature
- She is insatiably curious by nature and reads everything she finds.
Synonyms and how they differ
- inquisitive
- Inquisitive is more neutral and can suggest asking too many personal questions, while insatiably curious stresses that the appetite for knowledge never runs out.
- eager to learn
- This plain phrase is more everyday and less emphatic; use it when you do not want the strong idea of endless hunger for knowledge.
- thirsty for knowledge
- Thirsty for knowledge is a figurative phrase with a similar force but is more literary and less common in speech.
Opposites
Word family
- insatiable adjective
- Impossible to satisfy, used of desires such as hunger or ambition.
- insatiably adverb
- In a way that cannot be satisfied, as in eat insatiably.
- curiosity noun
- The wish to know or learn about something.
- curiously adverb
- In a way that shows interest, or strangely.
Commonly confused: insatiably curious or inquisitively? insatiably curious or unsatisfied?
insatiably curious vs inquisitively
Inquisitively is an adverb meaning in a questioning way, so it describes how someone acts, not what kind of person they are.
insatiably curious vs unsatisfied
Unsatisfied means not pleased with what you have; insatiably curious is about wanting more knowledge, not about being unhappy.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The adverb insatiably belongs directly before the adjective curious, and the phrase follows a linking verb like is. Option 2 puts the words in the wrong order, option 3 uses have where a linking verb is needed, and option 4 leaves out the verb entirely.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “insatiably curious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.