exoteric
Americanadjective
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suitable for or communicated to the general public.
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not belonging, limited, or pertaining to the inner or select circle, as of disciples or intimates.
adjective
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intelligible to or intended for more than a select or initiated minority
an exoteric account of a philosophical doctrine
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external; exterior
Other Word Forms
- exoterically adverb
- exotericism noun
Etymology
Origin of exoteric
First recorded in 1645–55; from Late Latin exōtericus “popular (e.g., of books), not technical or abstruse,” from Greek exōterikós “external, outside, popular,” equivalent to exṓter(os) “outer” (from exō- adverb and prefix + -teros comparative suffix also used for natural and complementary pairs) + -ikos adjective suffix; exo-, -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.
As role model, sheds a dim light, His pick exoteric Gave us Bernie Kerik, Still ready, it seems, to incite.
From New York Times • Aug. 19, 2010
In solving this affair, the Bishop had recourse to the more exoteric passages of his criminal literature.
From Time Magazine Archive
Among the exoteric doings of the human race were the following: Gilbert Murray.
From Time Magazine Archive
What Descartes, however, is really expressing in this exoteric way is simply that beneath and beyond all particular truths lies the great general truth of the unity of thought and existence.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 "Carnegie Andrew" to "Casus Belli" by Various
The sad tale of the Punch's showman—the exoteric one, evidently—roused no response in the mind of old Mrs. Prichard, until it ended with the tragedy at Southend.
From When Ghost Meets Ghost by De Morgan, William Frend
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.
