Adjacent Words

Esoteric definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ESOT'ERIC, a. [Gr. interior, from within.] Private; an epithet applied to the private instructions and doctrines of Pythagoras; opposed to exoteric, or public.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle; "a compilation of esoteric philosophical theories" [ant: exoteric]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Late Latin esotericus, from Greek es?terikos, from es?ter?, comparative of eis?, es? within, from eis into; akin to Greek en in — more at in Date: circa 1660 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> <esoteric strategies>; 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 adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 intelligible only to those with special knowledge. 2 (of a belief etc.) intended only for the initiated. Derivatives: esoterical adj. esoterically adv. esotericism n. esotericist n. Etymology: Gk esoterikos f. esotero compar. of eso within

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Esoteric Es`o*ter"ic, a. Marked by secrecy or privacy; private; select; confidential; as, an esoteric purpose; an esoteric meeting.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Esoteric Es`o*ter"ic, n. (Philos.) (a) An esoteric doctrine or treatise; esoteric philosophy; esoterics. (b) One who believes, or is an initiate, in esoteric doctrines or rites.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Esoteric Es`o*ter"ic ([e^]s`[-o]*t[e^]"[i^]k), a. [Gr. 'eswteriko`s, fr. 'esw`teros inner, interior, comp. fr. 'e`sw in, within, fr. 'es, e'is, into, fr. 'en in. See In.] Designed for, and understood by, the specially initiated alone; not communicated, or not intelligible, to the general body of followers; private; interior; acroamatic; -- said of the private and more recondite instructions and doctrines of philosophers. Opposed to exoteric. Enough if every age produce two or three critics of this esoteric class, with here and there a reader to understand them. --De Quincey.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe something as esoteric, you mean it is known, understood, or appreciated by only a small number of people. (FORMAL) ...esoteric knowledge. ...a spoiled aristocrat with pretentious airs and esoteric tastes. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Private, secret, acroamatic, acroatic, inner, inmost, known to the initiated.

Moby Thesaurus

absolute, abstract, abstruse, anagogic, arcane, auricular, between the lines, between us, cabalic, cabalistic, censored, certain, classified, close, closed, concealed, concrete, confidential, covert, cryptic, dark, deep, deep-seated, defined, definite, delitescent, detailed, determinate, different, distinct, distinguished, dormant, eerie, enigmatic, especial, exceptional, express, extramundane, extraordinary, extraterrestrial, fey, fixed, heavy, hermetic, hibernating, hidden, hush-hush, hypernormal, hyperphysical, immanent, implanted, implicit, in petto, inalienable, individual, indwelling, infixed, ingrained, inherent, inner, inside, internal, intimate, intrinsic, inward, inwrought, irreducible, latent, lurking, metaphysic, minute, muffled, mysterious, mystic, not for publication, noteworthy, numinous, obfuscated, obscured, occult, off the record, otherworldly, particular, personal, possible, potential, precise, preterhuman, preternatural, preternormal, pretersensual, private, privileged, profound, psychic, recondite, resident, respective, restricted, sealed, secret, several, singular, sleeping, smothered, solipsistic, special, specific, spiritual, stifled, subjective, submerged, superhuman, supernatural, supernormal, superphysical, supersensible, supersensual, suppressed, supramundane, supranatural, theosophical, theosophist, top secret, transcendental, transmundane, ulterior, unalienable, unbreatheable, unchallengeable, under privilege, under security, under the surface, under wraps, underlying, undisclosable, undisclosed, undivulgable, undivulged, unearthly, unhuman, unmanifested, unpublishable, unquestionable, unrevealable, unrevealed, unspoken, untellable, untold, unutterable, unuttered, unwhisperable, unworldly, veiled, virtual