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Is there a term used to describe when something, such as a college class or book, is something that might only interest a tiny group of people?

"Nerdy" seems to be the nearest word I can find, but it has too much of a negative connotation. Is there something similar, without the negativity?

Sample sentences:

English 408: Existential Literature is a class that is too _____, so few students signed up.

Only a few students joined the Klingon language club, because it is too ____.
Village
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    Possible duplicate of Word for not obscure but not mainstream – k1eran May 14 '18 at 18:26
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    Avoid word requests that lack: (i) objective criteria for accepting answers, including connotation, register, and part of speech; (ii) exact context – generally we want the sentence you’re writing; and (iii) details of research you’ve already done (trips to the thesaurus, etc.) including solutions you’ve already rejected, and why. See: “Single word requests, crosswords, and the fight against mediocrity – ELU Meta”; “Real Questions Have Answers – SE Blog”. – MetaEd May 14 '18 at 21:12
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    Are you specifically looking for an adjective. Formal or informal. Are these the sentences you are actually writing. Is "nerdy" the only word you've considered. Have you searched existing Q&A here or elsewhere. – MetaEd May 14 '18 at 21:14
  • Your sample sentences could work with a great many adjectives meanly fairly different things - your title wording could limit that to directly mean "only interests a narrow group" but you back that off a bit to make other types of words that describe a trait of the topic 'specific', 'detailed' , 'unusual', or 'odd' as a secondary effect. "Nerdy" brings it away from the subject to "nature of someone who it would appeal to" instead of "nature of ~what~ they are appealed to" fine distinction opening a third idea. "unusual" and "specialized" are different things Kangaroo vs Optometrist ? – Tom22 May 14 '18 at 22:46

4 Answers4

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'Esoteric' suits, I believe :

requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group; esoteric terminology; broadly : difficult to understand esoteric subjects

Merriam Webster

Japan’s ‘forest bathing’ treatment: Burnout stopper or esoteric fad?

Borneo Bulletin - 15th May 2018

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Nigel J
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Specialized would be a good word here. The EOD has:

specialized (British specialised) adjective

1 Requiring or involving detailed and specific knowledge or training. ‘employees with specialized skills’

1.1 Concentrating on a small area of a subject. ‘periodicals have become more and more specialized’

1.2 Designed for a particular purpose. ‘specialized software’

The concentration on a small area of a subject results often in a "niche" market, defined, as an adjective, as:

Denoting or relating to products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population.

EOD

Xanne
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Could be you are looking for 'factional'. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/factional

Eddie B. True
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I would go with niche.

  1. A specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.

‘he believes he has found a niche in the market’
‘smaller cooperatives must find and develop a niche for their speciality product’

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MikeJRamsey56
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