esoteric

adjective es·o·ter·ic \ ˌe-sə-ˈter-ik , -ˈte-rik \

Updated on: 1 Dec 2017

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

—

esoterically

play \ˌe-sə-ˈter-i-k(ə-)lē, -ˈte-ri-\ adverb

See esoteric defined for English-language learners

See esoteric defined for kids

esoteric was our Word of the Day on 06/17/2015. Hear the podcast!

Examples of esoteric in a Sentence

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
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

Recent Examples of esoteric from the Web

Hillary Clinton has become so esoteric that her claim to lead the Never Trumpers is in jeopardy.

— conrad black, National Review, "The Never Trumpers’ New Strategy," 18 Oct. 2017
Obscure styles of beer, unorthodox ingredients, and esoteric flavors have become hallmarks of the craft brewing world.

— spike carter, Bloomberg.com, "Chug Life: How Craft Breweries Are Mimicking Mass-Market Beers," 13 Oct. 2017
Truth be told, this reporter (whose specialties run to other esoteric topics like tax reform and corporate governance) never knew the two surveys could seem to contradict one another.

— shawn tully, Fortune, "Did the New Jobs Report Confuse You? You're Not Alone," 6 Oct. 2017
This was the first step in moving nuclear energy from esoteric science to the front of public consciousness.

— ta-nehisi coates, The Atlantic, "The Conversation," 12 Sep. 2017
The architectural discussions could have become boringly esoteric, but Cho and Richardson keep things interesting and make the dialogue crackle, creating low-key but deceptively high-impact encounters that change both of their characters.

— david lewis, kansascity, "‘Columbus’ builds slowly into a moving snapshot of humanity," 31 Aug. 2017
No question is too esoteric or too out there for our reporters, who are eager to find new stories to tell.

— joseph hernandez, chicagotribune.com, "What are your burning questions about Chicago dining? You asked, we answered," 12 Oct. 2017
Even to a seasoned engineer like Newcombe, the language read at first as bizarre and esoteric—a zoo of symbols.

— james somers, The Atlantic, "The Coming Software Apocalypse," 26 Sep. 2017
But others come from a far more fascinating and esoteric place, primarily through questions that Yanai has asked himself over the years.

— scott christian, Esquire, "Want to Create a Global Fashion Empire? Listen to This Man.," 17 Oct. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'esoteric.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

What is the Opposite of esoteric?

The opposite of esoteric is exoteric, which means "suitable to be imparted to the public." According to one account, those who were deemed worthy to attend Aristotle's learned discussions were known as his "esoterics," his confidants, while those who merely attended his popular evening lectures were called his "exoterics." Since material that is geared toward a target audience is often not as easily comprehensible to outside observers, esoteric acquired an extended meaning of "difficult to understand." Both esoteric and exoteric started appearing in English in the mid-1600s; esoteric traces back to ancient Greek by way of the Late Latin esotericus. The Greek esōterikos is based on the comparative form of esō, which means "within."

Origin and Etymology 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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1660

See Words from the same year