exotic

Pluralexotics

1. 1
   adjective

   Coming from a foreign country, especially in a way that seems exciting or unfamiliar.

   The resort drew tourists with its exotic beaches and unfamiliar cuisine.

   He returned from his travels with stories of exotic markets and rare spices.

   Similarforeign, faraway, unfamiliar, distant

   Oppositefamiliar, local, ordinary

   Note

   The core sense keeps its Greek shape: exōtikós meant "from the outside," built on exō-, "outside," and the word reached English through Latin and Middle French. What it adds to plain foreign is allure. John Evelyn could call an ambassador "splendid and exotic" in 1682. It pairs naturally with places and looks, as in exotic locations or an exotic appearance, and a prefix can soften it, as in Baroness Orczy's "semi-exotic claimant."

2. 2
   adjective

   Not native to a given ecosystem; introduced from another region.

   Conservationists work to remove exotic plants that outcompete native vegetation.

   The island's birds declined sharply after exotic predators arrived.

   Similarnon-native, alien, introduced, foreign

   Oppositenative, indigenous

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A performer who dances erotically, often removing clothing, as entertainment.

   The manager booked two exotics for the late-night show.

   He met his wife when she was working as an exotic downtown.

   Similarstripper

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A living thing not native to a given environment, having come from another region.

   Ecologists tracked how the exotic spread through the wetland.

   Many exotics arrive as stowaways in shipping containers.

   Similaralien

   Oppositenative

   Note

   Biologists turn the adjective into a countable noun: an exotic, two exotics. It is the noun form of the "non-native" adjective, used for plants and animals alike. Outside science the noun can stretch to people. George Orwell, in Such, Such Were the Joys, remembers "a few exotics" among his schoolfellows: South American boys, one or two Russians, a Siamese prince.

5. 5
   adjective

   Originating from beyond Earth; extraterrestrial or alien.

   The novel imagines exotic civilizations spread across the galaxy.

   Astronomers speculated about exotic organisms adapted to a methane sea.

   Similaralien, extraterrestrial

   Oppositeterrestrial

6. 6
   adjective

   Relating to a financial option whose features make it more complex than the options commonly traded on the market.

   Traders priced the exotic option using complex computer models.

   The fund's losses came from exotic derivatives few analysts could value.

   Oppositevanilla

   Note

   A trader's word, set against "vanilla," the market's term for the plain, standard option. An exotic option bends the usual rules. Its payoff may depend on the path a price takes, or on several underlying assets at once, which is why such contracts are hard to value. In finance the adjective attaches to option and derivative, and it carries no hint of glamour.

7. 7
   adjective

   Relating to a bet, such as a trifecta, in which the bettor predicts the finishing order of several competitors across one or more races.

   Seasoned bettors favor exotic wagers for their large payouts.

   The track introduced a new exotic bet combining results from two races.

   Note

   Racetracks use the word for any bet more elaborate than picking a single winner. The trifecta, exacta and superfecta all belong to the family: the bettor must call the exact finishing order of two or more runners, sometimes across linked races. Exotic wager and exotic bet are the usual collocations, and here the word marks complexity, not rarity or foreign origin.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   A particle of an unusual type, not among the ordinary, well-understood particles of matter.

   The collider produced an exotic that decayed almost instantly.

   Researchers combed the data for signs of rare exotics.

   Note

   Physicists use the noun for whatever falls outside the familiar classes of baryons and mesons. Examples include tetraquarks, pentaquarks, and glueballs, which would be made of gluons alone. Many remain theoretical, so exotics are often sought rather than catalogued. As with the biologist's noun, the adjective has hardened into a count noun, and "an exotic particle" and "an exotic" mean the same thing.

Showing meanings only. Show all 8