rare
1 Americanadjective
-
rarer,
comparative
-
rarest
superlative
-
coming or occurring far apart in time; unusual; uncommon: His visits are rare occasions.
a rare disease;
His visits are rare occasions.
- Synonyms:
- singular, extraordinary, exceptional
- Antonyms:
- common
-
thinly distributed over an area; few and widely separated.
Lighthouses are rare on that part of the coast.
- Synonyms:
- infrequent, sparse
- Antonyms:
- frequent
-
having the component parts not closely compacted together; not dense: lightheaded from the rare mountain air.
rare gases;
lightheaded from the rare mountain air.
-
unusually great.
a rare display of courage.
-
unusually excellent; admirable; fine.
She showed rare tact in inviting them.
- Synonyms:
- inimitable, incomparable, choice
- Antonyms:
- inferior
adjective
-
rarer,
comparative
-
rarest
superlative
verb (used without object)
adjective
-
not widely known; not frequently used or experienced; uncommon or unusual
a rare word
-
occurring seldom
a rare appearance
-
not widely distributed; not generally occurring
a rare herb
-
(of a gas, esp the atmosphere at high altitudes) having a low density; thin; rarefied
-
uncommonly great; extreme
kind to a rare degree
-
exhibiting uncommon excellence; superlatively good or fine
rare skill
-
highly valued because of its uncommonness
a rare prize
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of rare1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English rar(e), rer(e) “light, airy, loose,” from Latin rārus “loose, porous, wide apart, thin, infrequent”
Origin of rare2
First recorded in 1610–20; variant of earlier rear, Middle English rere, hrere, Old English hrēr “(of eggs) lightly boiled”
Explanation
If an event is rare, it doesn't happen often. If an object is rare, there aren't many of its kind. Obviously, finding a rare gem is a rare occasion. Rare comes from the Latin word rarus, meaning “widely spaced,” as rare things are — whether in actual space or in time. You thought it was rare to meet someone you have so much in common with, until he fainted looking at the rare steak you ordered. The rare that describes prepared meat actually has a separate origin: it comes from the long-gone word rear, meaning “half-cooked.”
Vocabulary lists containing rare
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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"The Witch Boy" by Molly Knox Ostertag
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Workshop 5, Part 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It was nevertheless some rare good news from an industry that has been hard hit by fierce Chinese competition, falling demand and rising costs.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
On Thursday, Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, in the firm’s emailed newsletter called companies dedicated to steady dividend increases “a rare breed.”
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
Rapamycin is already used in medicine to prevent the immune system from rejecting transplanted organs and to treat certain rare conditions.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
AstraZeneca recently made a roughly $10 billion offer to buy Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, according to people familiar with the matter, a deal that would expand its portfolio of rare disease treatments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
“It is a hereditary position with no real duties, except for the rare occasions when circumstances demand otherwise.”
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Even rarer are definitive answers to the context in which photos were taken.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
Then she saw on the monitor a characteristic “elbow” and realized that what she was seeing was much rarer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
Real surprises are rarer in the land of Too Much TV, although we shouldn’t knock reliable comforts.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
Larger or more widespread CMN are much rarer, occurring in about one in 10,000 to 20,000 births.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
It’s even rarer in females, and superrare in kids.
From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty
The race to save America’s rarest predator with tiny gas masks and magic plungers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Scientists needed increasingly sophisticated instruments to investigate the rarest and most energetic neutrinos arriving from space.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026
One of the world's rarest bats could be at risk if ExxonMobil forges ahead with a Papua New Guinea gas project, a law firm working with impacted landowners warned Monday.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
A restored wetland in Cheshire is now home to almost two-thirds of the UK's breeding black-necked grebes, one of the country's rarest breeding birds.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Then he tilted back his head and roared with laughter as if I had told the rarest jest of all.
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
A group of Chinese billionaires, including Pony Ma, the Tencent founder, issued rared public statements supporting President Xi Jinping’s contentious handling of the economy.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
"Every pitch, I rared back, and after a while I didn't even look at the target."
From Time Magazine Archive
Aware that Newton Minow got a lot of acreage simply by calling TV a "vast wasteland," Goldwater rared back his onager at a Greek-American dinner in Chicago and let the rocks fly at U.S. television.
From Time Magazine Archive
The citizens rared up and threw an anti-chain tax for a loss.
From Time Magazine Archive
People screamed and ran, horses and mules screeched and rared.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Take, for example, a runner whose preparation for a race has gone perfectly and who is confident and raring to go.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
While American oil producers have expressed hesitancy about rushing back to Venezuela, the companies that provide them with equipment and expertise, such as Halliburton, are raring to go.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026
The Harris campaign ended the night raring to debate again.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2024
Americans had fins on their cars, gas in the tanks, and money in their pockets, and were raring to hit those new interstates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2024
“You’d better hurry now. Your grandpa is raring to go.”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
