Variants:
for curiosity’s sake
just for curiosity’s sake
for the sake of curiosity
out of curiosity
just out of curiosity
Meaning of Idiom ‘For Curiosity’s Sake’
When you do something for curiosity’s sake, you are doing it because of personal interest or simple curiosity with no practical purpose or concrete reason in mind; something done to satisfy one’s curiosity.
Usage Notes
All the variants listed above have the same meaning and are often used to answer the question ‘why do you want to know?’ or ‘why are you doing (something)’?
Sentence Examples
“Just out of curiosity, why did you tell John not to come for dinner?”
“You’ve never expressed an interest in history, so why do you want to read my thesis?” asked Michelle. “Just for curiosity’s sake,” said Mark.
“I know the meanings of most idioms but I like to learn about their origins out of curiosity.”
“I don’t really like violent TV shows but this one is so popular that I watched the first episode just out of curiosity.”
“For curiosity’s sake, do you still talk to Kevin?”
“I merely asked for curiosity’s sake. I don’t mean to be invasive.”
Origin
Used since at least the early part of the 1800s.
