exoticism

plural exoticisms

1. uncountableusuallyThe state of being exotic.

   For all the exoticism of the images, they possess a phenomenal immediacy and even contemporaneity.

   2004 January 25, Mark Feeney, “A piece of Asia's past, in living color”, in The Boston Globe, archived from the original on 11 Jun 2025

   Synonyms: exoticness, exoticity, exotism

2. uncountableusuallySomething exotic.

   Chinese restaurants, now dotting this peninsula like azaleas at Cypress Gardens, have introduced thousands of us Occidentals to the delights of moo goo gai pan. As a result, attempts to produce such exoticisms in our own homes have multiplied.

   1985 February 14, Jane Nickerson, “Chinese New Year”, in The Ledger

   1 more example

   The distribution of instruments is fairly traditional, but with piccolo trumpet and bass trombone to explore extremes, and bells, gongs and tam-tams to variegate the sound. Such exoticisms as the xylorimba (Richard Fitz) and glockenspiel (Jeffrey Milarsky) are introduced along with the sounds of shifting sand.

   2000 July 20, Bernard Holland, “LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL REVIEW; Messiaen's Nature Worship Calls on Bird Song and Faith”, in The New York Times

3. uncountableusuallyhuman sciencesA word changed in spelling or pronunciation to look or sound more exotic or foreign.

   The English pronunciations of Beijing and Chumash with French-like j and ch are exoticisms, as is the spelling T'Sou-ke for the original Anglicization Sooke.