Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun plural Things that are curiously unusual or excitingly strange.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of exotic
  • noun curious, strange, unusual and exotic things.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin exōtica, from neuter pl. of exōticus, exotic; see exotic.]

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Examples

  • He shows us his Silicon Projectile Centrifuge (a lovely lethal weapon that shoots marbles at high velocity), a combination lamp/bong, and other exotica from the halls of beautiful Eccentric Manors.

    Boing Boing 2008

  • Where Esquivel is all over-the-top big-band pyrotechnics, Denny's music also known as exotica is mellow, quiet, dreamy, drawing from jazz, pop, classical and "third stream" music.

    Tony Sachs: It Ain't Yo Gabba Gabba, But... A Daddy's Favorite Non-Kids' Records of 2011 Tony Sachs 2011

  • I'm guessing it was no more "authentic" than the opera itself, which shamelessly indulges itself and the audience in exotica.

    Archive 2007-05-01 Roger Sutton 2007

  • I'm guessing it was no more "authentic" than the opera itself, which shamelessly indulges itself and the audience in exotica.

    Brahma, mon dieux! Roger Sutton 2007

  • If you're in some sort of exotica, which is to say some kind of twisted ARM, as we call them, you might want to re-fi into something longer term.

    CNN Transcript Mar 28, 2008 2008

  • Today's financial "exotica," he said, are related to subprime mortgages and collateralized debt obligations, which are backed by pools of mortgage and other assets.

    For Fund Managers, 2007

  • 'exotica' has intriguing connotations in our culture and I have become attached to it.

    8: Plant protection and pest control 1996

  • So-and only because the customers liked the hint of sandalwood in the air when they came to examine his wares-and only because there was a fine receptacle for such offerings at the foot of the statue"Lord Ganesh's serpentine trunk breathed in the airs of sacrifice that afternoon, while Peter helped ladies with more money than taste select "exotica" for their parlors.

    The Serpent's Shadow Lackey, Mercedes 2001

  • Jackson explains that "a lot of the inspiration came from old records by guys like Les Baxter who did quite a few 'exotica' records in the late '60s and early' 70s.

    RA News 2009

  • And there's exotica like pomegranate or pistachio – a duo designed to match the pastel colour scheme.

    Ten of the best UK ice-cream sellers 2011

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