Oxford English Thesaurus
Oxford English Thesaurus
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- Abstruse
Adjective
- the question is dominated by esoteric debate ABSTRUSE, obscure, arcane, recherché, rarefied, recondite, abstract, difficult, hard, puzzling, perplexing… rare involuted. ANTONYMS simple; familiar
Oxford Dictionary of English
esoteric | i:sa(u) 'tarik, asa(u)'terik |
adjective
intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest: esoteric philosophical debates.
DERIVATIVES
esoterically adverb
esotericism | ,ssa'terisiz(a)m, i'sa'tarisiz(a)m | noun
esotericist noun
ORIGIN
Mid 17th century: from Greek esōterikos, from esōterō, comparative of esō ‘within’, from es, eis ‘into’. Compare with exoteric.
New Oxford American Dictionary
esoteric | ,esə'terik |
adjective
Intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest: esoteric philosophical debates.
DERIVATIVES
esoterically | ‘,esə’terək(ə)lē | adverb
esotericism | ,esə’terə,sizəm | noun
esotericist | ,esə’terəsəst | noun
ORIGIN
Mid 17th centuyry: from Greek esōterikos, from esōterō, comparative of esō ‘within’, from es, eis ‘into’. Compare with exoteric.