esoteric

Definitions

Intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest.

Designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone.

Difficult to understand; abstruse or obscure.

Examples

The professor's lecture was filled with esoteric references that only a few experts in the field could understand.

He spent years studying esoteric philosophies that had been long forgotten by the general public.

Synonyms

abstruse arcane recondite cryptic obscure enigmatic occult

Antonyms

exoteric common familiar obvious public understandable simple