deep cut

noun

plural deep cuts

1

music : a song that is considerably less popular and well-known than other songs on the same album or by the same artist

From there, the band careened through highlights and the occasional deep cut from its catalog …

—Mikael Wood

But the rocker saw an opportunity to turn casual fans on to his deep cuts—so each disc intersperses hits with lesser-known album tracks in non-chronological order.

—David Browne

2

: something (such as an obscure reference to a book or movie) that is recognizable to devotees but not usually to others

One of the fun things about being a Marvel fan is the franchise's ability to constantly surprise its audience with comic book deep cuts, surprising castings, and twists that no one sees coming.

—Alexis Nedd

deep-cut adjective

a deep-cut reference/joke

Examples of deep cut in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For decades, mechanical royalties from a deep cut on a popular album could get a writer enough to buy a house, but today, streaming revenue on even a viral hit may not be enough to cover rent. —Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 1 Oct. 2025

Democrats have refused to support a funding bill unless Republicans agree to reverse deep cuts to Medicaid and extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. —Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025

National Institutes of Health funding, now facing deep cuts, has supported research in other parts of the world that led to new, life-saving interventions. —Dr. Seth Berkley, Time, 26 Sep. 2025

Making matters worse, this life-threatening condition can begin from something as seemingly harmless as pneumonia, a urinary tract infection or even a deep cut. —Daryl Austin, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025

Band member Steve Block tells me that in celebration of the show, the band plans to play some of its deep cuts and expects the night to be an unofficial 45th reunion for the Willow Glen High class of 1980 (where the band got its start). —Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 23 Sep. 2025

Horn sustained a deep cut to his left hand, which required stitches. —Charlotte Observer, 18 Sep. 2025

Miran, who replaced Adriana Kugler, has been a Fed critic and he is expected to push for deep cuts. —Christina Cheddar Berk, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2025

The '90s were a golden age for teen horror, but with so many of them pumped out, deep cuts like The Faculty got overlooked along the way. —Keith Langston, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1993, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for deep cut

• abut
• catgut
• chesnut
• chestnut
• donut
• doughnut
• groundnut
• haircut
• hindgut
• midgut
• precut
• rebut