exotic

From a faraway place and seeming unusual, interesting, or exciting.

• The market sells exotic fruit.
• They dreamed of visiting exotic islands.
• The room smelled of exotic spices.

Opposites: familiar

Common phrases: exotic fruit, exotic flowers, exotic destination

A plant or animal that comes from another area and does not naturally live in this environment.

• This exotic plant came from Asia.
• Exotic species can threaten local wildlife.
• Several exotic fish now live in the lake.

Similar words: non-native, introduced

Opposites: native, indigenous

Common phrases: exotic species, exotic plants, exotic animals

Coming from somewhere beyond Earth.

• The story describes exotic life from another planet.
• Scientists examined exotic material brought back from space.
• The spacecraft carried a sample of exotic rock.

Similar words: extraterrestrial, alien

Opposites: terrestrial

Common phrases: exotic materials, exotic life, exotic origin

A particle with an unusual structure or properties, studied in physics.

• The detector may have found an exotic.
• Physicists study exotics to understand how quarks interact.
• The team compared the exotic with ordinary particles.

Similar words: exotic particle

Common phrases: an exotic, detect an exotic, a possible exotic