Meanings
- alternativeAlternative form of curiosity killed the cat.
“When you say, ‘This guy is such a bad guy,’ people are curious,” he [Galin Jordanov] said. “And when he writes a book, people will buy it. Curiosity kills the cat. We are generating a simple form of sensation.”
2001 December 11, Ian Fisher, “Sofia Journal: Posters of Hitler Rouse Talk, and Fears, in Bulgaria”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 20152 more examples
A Kansas City woman learned the hard way that “curiosity kills the cat” when she picked up what she thought was a lost kitten this week – only to realize it was actually a small bobcat. The woman wound up getting bit on the thumb after seeing the small feline on the side of the road in Liberty, Missouri, and trying to help it, local cops said.
2022 December 1, Olivia Land, “Missouri woman bitten after lost ‘kitten’ turned out to be a bobcat”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Dec 2022Corteiz — Corteiz Rules the World is the brand’s full name — sold its first garments in 2018, and from the beginning Mr. [Clint] Ogbenna emphasized scarcity. The brand’s Instagram page was private. “Humans are just humans, innit?” he said. “Curiosity kills the cat.”
2026 January 11, Jon Caramanica, “Resurrecting the Thrill of Streetwear”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
Cite this entry
curiosity kills the cat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curiosity%20kills%20the%20cat
“curiosity kills the cat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curiosity%20kills%20the%20cat. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “curiosity kills the cat,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curiosity%20kills%20the%20cat.
Source: curiosity kills the cat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.