esoteric
understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest; recondite: poetry full of esoteric allusions.
belonging to the select few.
private; secret; confidential.
(of a philosophical doctrine or the like) intended to be revealed only to the initiates of a group: the esoteric doctrines of Pythagoras.
Origin of esoteric
1Other words for esoteric
Other words from esoteric
- es·o·ter·i·cal·ly, adverb
- non·es·o·ter·ic, adjective
- non·es·o·ter·i·cal·ly, adverb
- un·es·o·ter·ic, adjective
Words that may be confused with esoteric
- esoteric , exoteric
Words Nearby esoteric
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use esoteric in a sentence
It may sound like an esoteric problem, but a rapidly-spinning litter beneath a helicopter with a 74-year-old evacuee in it made news in 2019 in a video that will make you gasp.
Getting rescued by helicopter has risks. This gadget could make it safer. | Rob Verger | January 21, 2021 | Popular-ScienceZokinvy builds on decades of research on many aspects of the lamin A protein, including the “seemingly esoteric chemical modification” that forms progerin, he says.
The FDA has approved the first drug to treat the rapid-aging disease progeria | Carolyn Wilke | November 25, 2020 | Science NewsHe then decided he’d had enough of eking out small advances in esoteric areas of physics, and he got ready to begin a postdoc at Princeton University in the more wide-open field of neuroscience.
An Unexpected Twist Lights Up the Secrets of Turbulence | David H. Freedman | September 3, 2020 | Quanta MagazineWhich includes what seem to me like fairly esoteric ways of getting STDs such as, for example, mosquito bites.
At the same time, the book delves deep into gritty physics details, thoroughly explaining important concepts like the cosmic microwave background — the oldest light in the universe — and tackling esoteric topics in theoretical physics.
‘The End of Everything’ explores the ways the universe could perish | Emily Conover | August 4, 2020 | Science News
Ted is a quirky guy that loves esoteric topics like Teddy Roosevelt trivia and the history of belts.
Everything You Need to Know About 'How I Met Your Mother' | Chancellor Agard | March 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThere is a pill in Tibetan Buddhism that contains a lot of esoteric ingredients, some of which are bodily substances.
He noted that some esoteric historians call them “Palestinians.”
Suddenly you can hold forth about leading and kerning and other esoteric aspects of typesetting.
Instagram App Deepens Class Warfare Between Apple and Android Smartphones | Dan Lyons | April 6, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the old days it was not uncommon for the admissions officer to pose some esoteric—make that wacko—question.
His esoteric project was the original project of Christopher Columbus, extended and modified.
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington MacaulayI think that sort of thing appeals especially to me because my own design isn't in the least esoteric.
Hilda | Sarah Jeanette DuncanPetuléngro, farrier, the esoteric Romany name of the Smith family.
Lavengro | George BorrowYet it is known that we have several branches of these same esoteric Masonic Lodges carrying on their deadly work in our midst.
Secret Societies And Subversive Movements | Nesta H. WebsterThis was the origin of the rites more public, yet certainly esoteric, that he at last found himself able to establish.
The Altar of the Dead | Henry James
British Dictionary definitions for esoteric
/ (ˌɛsəʊˈtɛrɪk) /
restricted to or intended for an enlightened or initiated minority, esp because of abstruseness or obscurity: an esoteric cult Compare exoteric
difficult to understand; abstruse: an esoteric statement
not openly admitted; private: esoteric aims
Origin of esoteric
1Derived forms of esoteric
- esoterically, adverb
- esotericism, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse