had rather

Idioms  

1. Also, had sooner. Would prefer. For example, I had rather you let me do the driving, or He'd sooner switch than fight. This idiom today is often replaced by would rather. [Late 1500s] Also see just as soon.

---

Example Sentences

In the order, the court however said that despite Mr Goldstein's claims, the mum and the children had "rather inexplicably" been "found in an isolated cave".

From BBC • Sep. 30, 2025

As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it in 1860: “Men had rather be deceived than not; witness the secure road to riches of Barnum and the quacks.”

From Salon • Dec. 19, 2023

By the time he was fully committed to his career, “I had rather lost interest, as far as pursuing a Ph.D. or teaching or going into the corporate world,” he said.

From New York Times • Jul. 7, 2022

The other first-rounders all had rather pedestrian debuts, too.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 16, 2020

Some of them had rather large brains, an upright posture and two little front legs very much like hands, which they used to catch small, speedy mammals—probably including our distant ancestors—for dinner.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan