Esoteric Definition & Meaning

American

British

Usage

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms esoteric American [es-uh-ter-ik] / ˌɛs əˈtɛr ɪk /

adjective

1. understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest; recondite.

   poetry full of esoteric allusions.

   Synonyms: enigmatic, cryptic, arcane, abstruse

2. belonging to the select few.

3. private; secret; confidential.

4. (of a philosophical doctrine or the like) intended to be revealed only to the initiates of a group.

   the esoteric doctrines of Pythagoras.

5. Computers. (of programming or a programming language) designed to test or explore an unusual programming concept, regardless of its usefulness.

esoteric British / ˌɛsəʊˈtɛrɪk /

adjective

1. restricted to or intended for an enlightened or initiated minority, esp because of abstruseness or obscurity Compare exoteric

   an esoteric cult

2. difficult to understand; abstruse

   an esoteric statement

3. not openly admitted; private

   esoteric aims

"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

Usage

What does esoteric mean? Esoteric most commonly means obscure and only understood or intended to be understood by a small number of people with special (and perhaps secret) knowledge.It’s often used to describe knowledge that’s only intended to be revealed to people who have been initiated into a certain group. The word is often associated with mysticism and the occult.Such knowledge can be collectively referred to as esoterica, which can also refer collectively to books and other works that contain such topics.Example: To the uninitiated, this kind of esoteric knowledge is impenetrably arcane.

Other Word Forms

• esoterically adverb
• esotericism noun
• nonesoteric adjective
• nonesoterically adverb
• unesoteric adjective

Etymology

Origin of esoteric

First recorded in 1645–55; from Greek esōterikós “inner,” equivalent to esṓter(os) “inner” + -ikos -ic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He introduced her to the teachings of George Gurdjieff, the esoteric spiritual teacher who took Western intellectual circles by storm in the 1920s.

From The Wall Street Journal

All have won multiple titles and medals at international competitions, though the hierarchy of ice-dancing championships is too esoteric for those of us who just want to watch the performances.

From The Wall Street Journal

At one weekend session, “Evolving RL-Based Reasoning Data in LLMs,” a startup founder who specialized in that esoteric area of research asked a reporter why they were at such a boring talk.

From The Wall Street Journal

Rowling series for themselves—often rereading, committing passages to memory and challenging one another to answer esoteric trivia questions.

From The Wall Street Journal

MarketWatch asked Tuttle — who over recent years has set up a plethora of esoteric exchange traded funds — whether there are any ETFs that would represent a play into this theme.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• abstruse
• arcane
• mystical

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.