Log in or Sign up

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. From another part of the world; foreign: exotic tropical plants in a greenhouse. See Synonyms at foreign.
  2. adj. Intriguingly unusual or different; excitingly strange: "If something can be explained simply, in a familiar way, then it is best to avoid more exotic explanations” ( Chet Raymo). See Synonyms at fantastic.
  3. adj. Of or involving striptease: an exotic dancer.
  4. n. One that is exotic.
  5. n. A striptease performer.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Of foreign origin or character; introduced from a foreign country; not native, naturalized, or familiarized; extraneous: as, an exotic plant; an exotic term or word.
  2. n. Anything of foreign origin, as a plant, tree, word, practice, etc., introduced from a foreign country, and not fully acclimated, naturalized, or established in use.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign.
  2. adj. Non-native to the ecosystem.
  3. n. An organism that is exotic to an environment.
  4. n. An exotic dancer; a stripteaser.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Introduced from a foreign country; not native; extraneous; foreign.
  2. n. Anything of foreign origin; something not of native growth, as a plant, a word, a custom.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. strikingly strange or unusual
  2. adj. being or from or characteristic of another place or part of the world

Etymologies

  1. Latin exōticus, from Greek exōtikos, from exō, outside; see exo-.

Examples

  • “Not to be outdone, the New York City cast took the term exotic getaway to a whole new level with a Morocco trip spanning three episodes.”

    10 Things We Learned From The Real Housewives of New York City's Morocco Trilogy

  • “JOHN LOWRY, LENDER, AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE: Well, the term exotic mortgage actually came from Alan Greenspan a few years ago when he was talking about all these creative financing ways where people can afford all these exorbitant houses with low payments.”

    CNN Transcript Sep 23, 2006

  • “The Atlantic offers some additional thoughts on the term exotic finance.”

    Dealscape

  • “A few years back I was what they call an exotic dancer.”

    Simon & Schuster: Daddy Long Stroke

  • “And that kind of attraction with Ben Affleck that Jennifer Lopez had symbolizes what we call the exotic is erotic.”

    CNN Transcript Jan 1, 2009

  • “Kareems business started to blossom (if you don't mind the pun) as he expanded his range in crotons, orchids, and developed what he calls his exotic range of fruit trees.”

    newsday.co.tt

  • “No, "exotic" is totally a red flag for Otherisation.”

    Actual Fan Email, Actual Response.

  • “The reason Obama is ahead by only a handful of points in a political environment poisonous for Republicans is because of lingering concern over his "exotic" (that's the code word) name and background.”

    Newsweek: A Perception Problem

  • “Color One of the most important aspects of Madeleine Castaing's decoration was her love of color — rich colors in exotic combinations — and its potential to evoke history and atmosphere.”

    The Wall Street Journal: The Decorator's Decorator

  • “She's convinced six million, slightly daft, wayward, Oprahfied, single women across the globe, that the key to repair and regeneration after a monumentally failed relationship lies in exotic globe trotting and carbo loading.”

    The Huffington Post: The DC Damsel: Eat Pray Choke On It

Show 10 more examples...

Log in or sign up to add your own related words.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

‘exotic’ has been looked up 2517 times, loved by 5 people, added to 47 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 15.