exotic

E1X8O1T1I1C3
UK/ɪɡˈzɒtɪk/US, dialectal/ɪɡˈzɑtɪk/US, dialectal[ɪɡˈzɑɾɪk]Australia/ɪɡˈzɔtɪk/

adjective

Foreign, especially in an exciting way.

“exotic materials”

Similar
alienforeignstrangeunusual
Opposite
native
OriginMiddle French exotique ← Latin exōticus ← Ancient Greek ἐξωτικός →
CommonScrabble 15
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Meanings

adjectiveexotic (comparative more exotic, superlative most exotic)

comparative more exotic · superlative most exotic

  1. Foreign, especially in an exciting way.

    an exotic appearance

    3 more examples

    Nothing was so splendid and exotic as the ambassador.

    1682 December 3 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 24 November 1682]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC

    “Two or three months more went by ; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest.[…]”

    1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020

    Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.

    2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55
    1. Non-native to the ecosystem.
    2. extraterrestial, alien

      exotic materials

  2. businessBeing or relating to an option with features that make it more complex than commonly traded options.
  3. gamblingBeing or relating to various wagers, such as the trifecta, that involve betting on the finishing positions of multiple competitors across one or more races.
  4. biologyDenoting or relating to any animal that is not a cat or dog, requiring specialised healthcare
  5. Of a petUnusual to keep or undomesticated.
nounexotic (plural exotica or exotics)

plural exotica · plural exotics

  1. An organism that is exotic to an environment; an introduced species.

    Antonyms: native

  2. A person not native to a particular area; a foreigner.

    There were a few exotics among them — some South American boys, sons of Argentine beef barons, one or two Russians, and even a Siamese prince, or someone who was described as a prince.

    c. 1948, George Orwell, Such, Such Were the Joys
  3. An exotic dancer; a stripteaser.
  4. natural sciencesAny exotic particle.

    Glueballs, theoretical particles composed only of gluons, are exotics.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn organism that is exotic to an environment; an introduced species.

Opposite
native

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivebeing or from or characteristic of another place or part of the world

Similar
alienforeignstrange

adjectivestrikingly strange or unusual

Similar
strangeunusual
Also see
alienethnicforeignstrange

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἐξωτικός“foreign”
  2. Latinexōticus
  3. Middle Frenchexotique
  4. Englishexotic

Borrowed from Middle French exotique, from Latin exōticus, from Ancient Greek ἐξωτικός (exōtikós, “foreign”, literally “from the outside”), from ἐξω- (exō-, “outside”), from ἐξ (ex, “out of”).

More words from Middle French, Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἔξεδρος
  • ἔξεδρος (éxedros)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Arabic دخيل, مجلوب
  • دخيلnon-native to the ecosystem
  • مجلوبforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Bulgarian екзотичен
  • екзотичен (ekzotičen)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Catalan exòtic, exòtic
  • exòticnon-native to the ecosystem
  • exòticforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Chinese Mandarin 外來的 /外来的, 引進的 /引进的
  • 外來的 /外来的 (wàilái de)non-native to the ecosystem
  • 引進的 /引进的 (yǐnjìn de)non-native to the ecosystem
  • 有異國情調 /有异国情调 (yǒu yìguó qíngdiào)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • 外來的 /外来的 (wàiláide)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • 異國的 /异国的 (yìguóde)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Czech nepůvodní, exotický
  • nepůvodnínon-native to the ecosystem
  • exotickýforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • cizokrajnýforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • exotorganism exotic to an environment
Danish eksotisk
  • eksotiskforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Dutch uitheems, exotisch
  • uitheemsnon-native to the ecosystem
  • exotischnon-native to the ecosystem
  • exotischforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • exootorganism exotic to an environment
Esperanto neindiĝena, ekzotika
  • neindiĝenanon-native to the ecosystem
  • ekzotikaforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • ekzotaforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Finnish vieras, eksoottinen
  • vierasnon-native to the ecosystem
  • eksoottinennon-native to the ecosystem
  • eksoottinenforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • eksoottinen lajiorganism exotic to an environment
French exotique, exotique
  • exotiquenon-native to the ecosystem
  • exotiqueforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • exotiqueorganism exotic to an environment
German exotisch, exotisch
  • exotischnon-native to the ecosystem
  • exotischforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • Exotorganism exotic to an environment
Greek εξωτικός, ξένος
  • εξωτικός (exotikós)non-native to the ecosystem
  • ξένος (xénos)non-native to the ecosystem
  • εξωτικός (exotikós)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • εξωτικός (exotikós)organism exotic to an environment
Hungarian egzotikus, egzotikus
  • egzotikusnon-native to the ecosystem
  • egzotikusforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Indonesian eksotis, eksotis
  • eksotisnon-native to the ecosystem
  • eksotisforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Irish andúchasach, andúchasach
  • andúchasachnon-native to the ecosystem
  • andúchasachforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • coimhthíochforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Italian esotico
  • esoticoforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Japanese 外来, エキゾチック
  • 外来 (gairai)non-native to the ecosystem
  • エキゾチック (ekizochikku)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Korean 외래의, 외국산의
  • 외래의 (oerae'ui)non-native to the ecosystem
  • 외국산의 (oeguksanui)non-native to the ecosystem
  • 이국적인 (igukjeogin)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • 이국풍의 (igukpung'ui)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Latin peregrinus
  • peregrinusforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Latvian eksotisks
  • eksotisksforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Lithuanian egzotiškas
  • egzotiškasforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Māori rāwaho, rāwaho
  • rāwahonon-native to the ecosystem
  • rāwahoforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • tauhouforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Norwegian Bokmål eksotisk
  • eksotiskforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Persian غریب, اگزوتیک
  • غریب (ġarib)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • اگزوتیک (egzotik)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Polish egzotyczny, egzotyczny
  • egzotycznynon-native to the ecosystem
  • egzotycznyforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Portuguese exótico, exótico
  • exóticonon-native to the ecosystem
  • exóticoforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • (organismo) exóticoorganism exotic to an environment
Romanian exotic
  • exoticforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Russian экзоти́ческий, экзоти́ческий
  • экзоти́ческий (ekzotíčeskij)non-native to the ecosystem
  • экзоти́ческий (ekzotíčeskij)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • экзоти́чный (ekzotíčnyj)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • экзо́т (ekzót)organism exotic to an environment
Scottish Gaelic eilthireach, coimheach
  • eilthireachnon-native to the ecosystem
  • coimheachforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • eilthireachforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • allmharachforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Spanish exótico, exótico
  • exóticonon-native to the ecosystem
  • exóticoforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Swedish exotisk, exotisk
  • exotisknon-native to the ecosystem
  • exotiskforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Tagalog eksotiko, eksotiko
  • eksotikonon-native to the ecosystem
  • eksotikoforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • kakaibaforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • eksotikoorganism exotic to an environment
  • kakaibaorganism exotic to an environment
Ukrainian екзоти́чний, екзоти́чний
  • екзоти́чний (ekzotýčnyj)non-native to the ecosystem
  • екзоти́чний (ekzotýčnyj)foreign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
Vietnamese ngoại lai, kì lạ
  • ngoại lainon-native to the ecosystem
  • kì lạforeign, with the connotation of excitingly foreign
  • sinh vật ngoại laiorganism exotic to an environment

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with exotic

eroticaquaticantibioticchaoticasymptoticnarcotichypnoticidioticneuroticbioticsymbioticosmoticamnioticprobioticsemioticdespoticoticquixoticsclerotichomoeroticheterotichomeoticautoeroticNilotic
All rhymes →

Anagrams

Texicocoxite
Cite this entry
APA

exotic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exotic

MLA

“exotic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exotic. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “exotic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exotic.

Source: exotic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.