exoticism

Also ex·o·tism

[ig-zot-uh-siz-uhm]

noun

1. tendency to adopt what is exotic.

2. exotic quality or character.

3. anything exotic, as a foreign word or idiom.

Other Word Forms

• exoticist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of exoticism¹

First recorded in 1820–30; exotic + -ism

Example Sentences

Such awareness lends a subtle metafictional framework to the novel, a hint of cautionary skepticism about its releases into fantasy and brushes with exoticism.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

The temptation to frame Buddhist art that way is surely a function of the religion’s unfamiliarity, its “exoticism,” except in shallow pop culture terms.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Given that a digital camera is now in most every pocket, queer photography’s bracing fusion of the personal and the exotic is pretty threadbare, since exoticism no longer applies to being queer in American life.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Cady, the protagonist of “Mean Girls,” was raised and homeschooled in Africa, lending her a whiff of exoticism compared to most of the student body at North Shore High School.

Read more on Salon

Mostly, she is there because it strategically isolates the character, limits her choices and gives the movie a dank whiff of Old World exoticism.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• curio 
• novelty 
• rarity