Word.ws English Dictionary

exoteric

Syllables: ex·o·ter·icUK/ˌɛksə(ʊ)ˈtɛɹɪk//ˌɛksəˈtɛɹɪk/

exoteric adjective: of a doctrine, information, etc.: suitable to be imparted to the public without secrecy or other reservations.

Adjective

exoteric (comparative more exoteric, superlative most exoteric)

  1. Of a doctrine, information, etc.: suitable to be imparted to the public without secrecy or other reservations.
    • In one of his works he [Samuel Taylor Coleridge] has ascribed to [Immanuel] Kant the foppery of an exoteric and an esoteric doctrine; and that upon grounds wholly untenable.1823, Thomas De Quincey, “Letters to a Young Man whose Education has been Neglected. Letter V.”, in Letters to a Young Man whose Education has been Neglected; and Other Papers (De Quincey’s Works...
    • Again, it is folly to belittle the significance of the canonical prayer—or exoteric rites in general—out of some presumptuous notion of esoterism. [Frithjof] Schuon repeatedly stresses throughout his writings the indispensable nature of the exoteric framework of formal religion; without this...2007, Reza Shah-Kazemi, “Frithjof Schuon and Prayer”, in Martin Lings, Clinton Minnaar, editors, The Underlying Religion: An Introduction to the Perennial Philosophy (The Library of Perennial...
    Synonyms:
    exoterical
    Antonyms:
    esoteric
    1. (broadly) Of a person: not part of an enlightened inner circle; not privy to esoteric knowledge.
      • Near-synonym: uninitiated
      • But of all the Egyptian Inventions, and Pythagoric Practices, nothing pleaſed him [Plato] more than that of the double Doctrine, and the Diviſion of his Auditors into the Exoteric and Eſoteric Claſſes: He more profeſſedly than any other, avovving thoſe Principles, on vvhich that Diſtinction vvas...1738, William Warburton, “Section III”, in The Divine Legation of Moses […], volume I, London: […] Fletcher Gyles, […], →OCLC, book III, pages 350–351
  2. Capable of being fully or readily comprehended by the public; accessible; also, having an obvious application.
    • The diſcourſe and doctrine vvhich he [Aristotle] delivered to his Diſciples vvas of tvvo kinds. One he called Exoterick, the other Acroatick. Exoterick vvere thoſe vvhich conduced to Rhetorick, meditation, nice diſputes, and the knovvledge of civill things. Acroatick thoſe in vvhich more remote and...1656, Tho[mas] Stanley, “[Aristotle.] Chap[ter] VI. His School and Manner of Teaching.”, in The History of Philosophy, the Second Volume, volume II, London: […] Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas Dring...
    • [H]e vvill alvvays aſſiſt a careful and accurate examiner in reſcuing the eſoteric purity of his doctrines from that leſs amiable appearance in vvhich their exoteric garb repreſents them.a. 1755 (date written), Henry Fielding, “A Fragment of a Comment on L[ord] Bolingbroke’s Essays”, in The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon, […], London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], published 1755, →OCLC...
  3. (archaic) External.
    • [M]y Deſign […] is not to Theologize in Philoſophy, but to dravv an Exoterick Fence or exteriour Fortification about Theologie; […]1662, Henry More, “The Preface General”, in A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr Henry More […], London: […] James Flesher for William Morden, […], →OCLC, , paragraph 4, page vi
    • Novv ſo it happens, that vvhenever St. Paul's compliance vvith the Jevviſh lavv is mentioned in the hiſtory, it is mentioned in connection vvith circumſtances vvhich point out the motive from vvhich it proceeded; and this motive appears to have been alvvays exoteric, namely, a love of order and...1790, William Paley, “The Epistle to the Galatians”, in Horæ Paulinæ, or The Truth of the Scripture History of St. Paul Evinced, […], London: […] J. Davis, for R[obert] Faulder, […], →OCLC, section...
  4. (archaic, rare) Having wide currency; popular, prevalent.
    • [T]he courtiers, who played at divers games in public, had a way of exciting the admiration and amazement of the commoner sort of spectators, by producing heaps of golden counters, and seeming to stake immense sums, when all the time they had previously agreed among one another, that each guinea...1814, Maria Edgeworth, chapter XXXVI, in Patronage. […], volume IV, London: […] [J. M‘Creery] for J[oseph] Johnson and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 75–76
    • Such, from sad personal experience and credited prevailing rumor, is the exoteric public conviction about these sublime establishments in Downing Street and the neighborhood,—the esoteric mysteries of which are indeed still held sacred by the initiated, but believed by the world to be mere...1850 April 1, Thomas Carlyle, “No. III. Downing Street.”, in Latter-Day Pamphlets, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 78
    Synonyms:
    common, prevailing

Noun

exoteric (plural exoterics)

  1. A person who is not part of an enlightened inner circle, and not privy to esoteric knowledge.
    • I am an exoteric—utterly unable to explain the mysteries of this new poetical faith. I only know that it is a faith, which except a man do keep pure and undefiled, without doubt he shall be called a blockhead.1824 April, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “[Contributions to Knight’s Quarterly Magazine.] Criticisms on the Principal Italian Writers. No. II. Petrarch.”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The...
    Antonyms:
    esoteric

exoteric meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Persian

exoteric in Tamil

வெளியரங்கமான

exoteric in Urdu

عوامی, خارجی, کھلا, سادہ

exoteric in Bengali

সাধারণ মানুষের বোধগম্য, গুপ্ত নয়

exoteric in Persian

of a doctrine, information, etc.: suitable to be imparted to the public without secrecy or other reservations
ظاهر zâher, زودفهم zudfahm
capable of being fully or readily comprehended by the public — see also accessible
عوامفهم 'avâm-fahm

Examples of exoteric in a sentence

  • One he called Exoterick, the other Acroatick.1656, Tho[mas] Stanley, “[Aristotle.] Chap[ter] VI. His School and Manner of Teaching.”, in The History of Philosophy, the Second Volume...
  • In later times Mercury at Athens was, according to [Karl Otfried] Müller, a Secondary also to Apollo, charged with the exoteric and material parts of several among his functions.1858, W[illiam] E[wart] Gladstone, “Sect. II. The Traditive Element of the Homeric Theo-mythology.”, in Studies on Homer and the Homeric...

Synonyms of exoteric

17 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

10 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of exoteric

Forms of exoteric

Adjective
comparativemore exoteric
superlativemost exoteric
Noun
pluralexoterics

Origin of exoteric

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Late Latin exōtericus + English -ic (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’). Exōtericus is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐξωτερῐκός (exōterĭkós, “exterior, external, outside”, adjective), from ἐξωτέρω (exōtérō, “more exterior”) (the comparative form of ἔξω (éxō, “external, outer”) (ultimately from ἐκ (ek, “beyond; outside”, preposition), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”)) + -τέρω (-térō) (an inflected form of -τερος (-teros, suffix forming comparative forms)) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix forming adjectives). The noun is derived from the adjective.

Words formed from exoteric

Words that rhyme with exoteric

12 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about exoteric

What does exoteric mean?
Exoteric means of a doctrine, information, etc.: suitable to be imparted to the public without secrecy or other reservations.
What is exoteric in Tamil?
Exoteric in Tamil is வெளியரங்கமான. See Exoteric meaning in Tamil.
How do you use exoteric in a sentence?
One he called Exoterick, the other Acroatick.
What part of speech is exoteric?
Exoteric can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce exoteric?
Exoteric is pronounced /ˌɛksə(ʊ)ˈtɛɹɪk/ (UK).

Words near exoteric in the dictionary

  1. exosystemic
  2. exosystems
  3. exotegmen
  4. exotegmens
  5. exotegmic
  6. exoteric
  7. exoterica
  8. exoterical
  9. exoterically
  10. exotericism
  11. exotericity

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: exoteric (page history and authors); exoteric (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); exoteric (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); exoteric (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “exoteric.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/exoteric. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.