deep cut

[deep kuht]

noun

1. a song that is less widely played and less well-known than other songs on the same album or by the same artist.

   The band performed a fan-favorite deep cut as part of their encore, and the crowd went wild!

2. anything, but especially media such as a television show, movie, video game, or book, that is not well-known to the general public, but has a fan base or cult following.

   This list of the top 25 horror films of all time has some deep cuts I’d never seen before.

3. a reference to a television show, movie, video game, book, etc., that would be appreciated or understood only by fellow fans, similar to an homage or inside joke.

   My husband’s joke about how he plays sax and I play clarinet, so our kids should learn to play piano and drums and then we can start our own Mos Eisley cantina band is a pretty deep cut.

Word History and Origins

Origin of deep cut¹

First recorded in 2005–10

Example Sentences

At select hours, Kelley said, staff will put up a divider to create Deep Cut, a fancier “speakeasy restaurant” that will emphasize steak and seafood.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A gratifying moment came midway through the show when I noticed two graybeards in the next section looking our way as my daughter bopped and sang along to “I’m a Rocker,” a deep cut that I didn’t even know she knew.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It’s going to be painful. Layoffs are always hard,” Paramount President Jeff Shell told reporters during a briefing on the Melrose Avenue movie lot earlier this month, stressing that Ellison’s team plans to evaluate the operations, then make one deep cut.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She also has strong feelings about the music in the episode, fighting skeptical producers to use almost the entirety of a Kate Bush deep cut, “The Morning Fog,” even after “Stranger Things” had brought “Running Up That Hill” back to the charts.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Berg was shoved by officers and suffered a deep cut to her hand — also while wearing press credentials.

Read more on Los Angeles Times