exoticism
noun
ex·ot·i·cism ig-ˈzä-tə-ˌsi-zəm 
variants or less commonly exotism
ˈeg-zə-ˌti-zəm
ˈek-sə-
: the quality or state of being exotic
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web In the West, ugly but resilient ideas about civilization, exoticism and the primitive are used to keep the suffering of people with brown and black skin at a safe emotional distance, often by minimizing or dismissing their full humanity. 
Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2022 For Waldie, this means seeing the city on its own terms rather than as the expression of a false exoticism. David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2022 The main knock on the Turbo S is that its relatively everyday looks don't match the exoticism of its performance (and, okay, its price). Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 30 Mar. 2022 There have been recent calls to retire this branding, which implies an exoticism and othering of non-western scents. Alaina Demopoulos, Allure, 8 Mar. 2022 In early versions of the game, food was used simply to satisfy Hunger, one of a handful of basic needs that every character has, or to add an element of exoticism when Sims traveled to new locales. New York Times, 7 Feb. 2022 Bingham chalks a lot of the appeal up to exoticism. Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2022 The other, less-common approach was to emphasize the Old World exoticism of the artists. Tim Gray, Variety, 21 Jan. 2022 But as with all exoticism, there’s a strange tug of war between condescension and appreciation in these kinds of borrowings. Adrian Daub, Longreads, 3 Sep. 2021 See More
Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2022 For Waldie, this means seeing the city on its own terms rather than as the expression of a false exoticism. David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2022 The main knock on the Turbo S is that its relatively everyday looks don't match the exoticism of its performance (and, okay, its price). Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 30 Mar. 2022 There have been recent calls to retire this branding, which implies an exoticism and othering of non-western scents. Alaina Demopoulos, Allure, 8 Mar. 2022 In early versions of the game, food was used simply to satisfy Hunger, one of a handful of basic needs that every character has, or to add an element of exoticism when Sims traveled to new locales. New York Times, 7 Feb. 2022 Bingham chalks a lot of the appeal up to exoticism. Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2022 The other, less-common approach was to emphasize the Old World exoticism of the artists. Tim Gray, Variety, 21 Jan. 2022 But as with all exoticism, there’s a strange tug of war between condescension and appreciation in these kinds of borrowings. Adrian Daub, Longreads, 3 Sep. 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1827, in the meaning defined above