deep cut

[ deep kuht ]

noun

1. a song that is less widely played and less well-known than other songs on the same album or by the same artist:

   The band performed a fan-favorite deep cut as part of their encore, and the crowd went wild!

2. anything, but especially media such as a television show, movie, video game, or book, that is not well-known to the general public, but has a fan base or cult following:

   This list of the top 25 horror films of all time has some deep cuts I’d never seen before.

3. a reference to a television show, movie, video game, book, etc., that would be appreciated or understood only by fellow fans, similar to an homage or inside joke:

   My husband’s joke about how he plays sax and I play clarinet, so our kids should learn to play piano and drums and then we can start our own Mos Eisley cantina band is a pretty deep cut.

Word History and Origins

Origin of deep cut¹

First recorded in 2005–10

Example Sentences

Finally, indulge me in this deep cut for one of the year’s best movies, Payal Kapadia’s evocative “All We Imagine as Light,” winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes.

From Los Angeles Times

The 26-year-old DR Congo international sustained a deep cut to his thumb while he was washing the dishes last week.

From BBC

Some of Albert’s colleagues from the art trade assessed the art for the Nazis — a personal deep cut for him.

From New York Times

It plays like a deep cut, reaching back through time to ground a TikToker’s content in a more enduring human experience.

From New York Times

While I wasn’t especially fond of this week’s “Top Chef” because of an unfortunate boot, some lackluster food, some odd alumni decisions, and my favorite cheftstant having to jet to urgent care for a deep cut, the episode did indeed elucidate two fascinating Wisconsin food customs that were, up until this week, entirely foreign to me: fish boils and meat raffles.

From Salon