1
as in profound
difficult for one of ordinary knowledge or intelligence to understand
metaphysics is such an esoteric subject that most people are content to leave it to the philosophers
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2
as in confidential
not known or meant to be known by the general populace
must have had some esoteric motive for leaving his art collection to a museum halfway around the globe
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Examples of esoteric in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Well, here is a modest application of accounting awareness to the esoteric world of art museums.
—
Shivaram Rajgopal, Forbes, 10 Sep. 2024
However, one was a streaming movie made without any sense of quality control guardrails chiefly for a home audience, and the other was an esoteric movie that divided moviegoers.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 30 Aug. 2024
Some of the film’s winking references are more esoteric than others, and a lot of wordplay and in-jokes are potentially lost on a non-Japanese audience: some of them are, according to the subtitles on my copy, basically untranslatable.
—Kambole Campbell, IndieWire, 15 Aug. 2024
Protect your assets: Best high-yield savings accounts of 2023
The Federal Reserve has set an inflation target of 2%, based on a more esoteric economic index of personal consumption expenditures.
—Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 14 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for esoteric 
Shivaram Rajgopal, Forbes, 10 Sep. 2024
However, one was a streaming movie made without any sense of quality control guardrails chiefly for a home audience, and the other was an esoteric movie that divided moviegoers.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 30 Aug. 2024
Some of the film’s winking references are more esoteric than others, and a lot of wordplay and in-jokes are potentially lost on a non-Japanese audience: some of them are, according to the subtitles on my copy, basically untranslatable.
—Kambole Campbell, IndieWire, 15 Aug. 2024
Protect your assets: Best high-yield savings accounts of 2023
The Federal Reserve has set an inflation target of 2%, based on a more esoteric economic index of personal consumption expenditures.
—Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 14 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for esoteric
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'esoteric.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Esoteric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/esoteric. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.
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