curio
curios
A curio is a strange or interesting collectible object. Your vintage Pez dispenser collection, for example, is a group of curios.
Something worth collecting, whether it's a rare coin or a strange 19th century photograph or a bizarre clown painting, is a curio. You might even have a special, tall cabinet with glass doors for protecting and displaying your curios — you can call this a curio cabinet. The word curio, first used in the mid-19th century, originally meant specifically a collectible item from "the Far East," and was a shortened form of curiosity.
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something unusual and perhaps worthy of collecting
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synonyms:
curiosity, oddity, oddment, peculiarity, rarity
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types:
- show 5 types...
- hide 5 types...
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bric-a-brac, knickknack, knickknackery, nicknack, whatnot
miscellaneous curios
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collectable, collectible
things considered to be worth collecting (not necessarily valuable or antique)
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collector's item, piece de resistance, showpiece
the outstanding item (the prize piece or main exhibit) in a collection
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chachka, tchotchke, tsatske, tshatshke
(Yiddish) an inexpensive showy trinket
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rariora
(plural) rare collector's items
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type of:
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object, physical object
a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow
Vocabulary lists containing curio
Ahead of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, Jewish teenage boys begin to disappear from the city's streets. After his best friend goes missing, Alter must race to solve the mystery before he becomes the killer's next victim.
This powerful nonfiction book explores the murder of Vincent Chin and the growth of the Asian American civil rights movement.
Rival magicians duel at a traveling circus that is only open at night.
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