esoteric
es·o·ter·ic
adj \ˌe-sə-ˈter-ik, -ˈte-rik\Definition of ESOTERIC
1
a : designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone <a body of esoteric legal doctrine — B. N. Cardozo> b : requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group <esoteric terminology>; broadly : difficult to understand <esoteric subjects>
2
a : limited to a small circle <engaging in esoteric pursuits> b : private, confidential <an esoteric purpose>
3
: of special, rare, or unusual interest <esoteric building materials>
— es·o·ter·i·cal·ly \-i-k(ə-)lē\ adverb
See Examples of ESOTERIC
- <metaphysics is such an esoteric subject that most people are content to leave it to the philosophers>
- <must have had some esoteric motive for leaving his art collection to a museum halfway around the globe>
- A kahuna is a master of Hawaiian esoteric practices. Recently, Mariko Gordon and Hugh Cosman engaged a kahuna to bless their house. … —Alec Wilkinson, New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2002
- … he listens to a group of Malaysians playing reedy, plangent music on some esoteric kind of wind instrument. —Penelope Lively, City of the Mind, 1991
- There was a new mall, an excellent bookstore with esoteric literary and policy journals, some restaurants with cosmopolitan menus, and engaging real estate advertisements. —Robert D. Kaplan, An Empire Wilderness, 1988
- [+]more
Origin of ESOTERIC
Late Latin esotericus, from Greek esōterikos, from esōterō, comparative of eisō, esō within, from eis into; akin to Greek en in — more at in
First Known Use: circa 1660
Related to ESOTERIC
Antonyms: shallow, superficial
Related Words: erudite, learned, scholarly; academic (also academical), pedantic; complex, complicated, hard; darkling, enigmatic (also enigmatical), inscrutable, mysterious, mystic, mystical, orphic, uncanny; impenetrable, incomprehensible, unfathomable, unintelligible; ambiguous, cryptic; unanswerable, unknowable; baffling, bewildering, confounding, confusing, disorienting, mystifying, perplexing, puzzling
Near Antonyms: easy, facile, simple, straightforward; comprehensible, fathomable, intelligible, understandable; apparent, clear, clear-cut, distinct, evident, lucid, manifest, obvious, perspicuous, plain, transparent
Rhymes with ESOTERIC
Learn More About ESOTERIC
Browse
Seen & Heard 
What made you want to look up esoteric? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
