rare
1 Americanadjective
-
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
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:
A rare alternate poster for the 1999 film “Cradle Will Rock,” which I wrote and directed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Extreme volatility risks triggering huge losses for leveraged ETFs — and even potentially a relatively rare unplanned delisting.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Even more egregious is the case of AI companies buying and destroying rare books en masse in the process of scanning them for data.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has observed a rare supermassive black hole far from the center of a distant galaxy as it tore apart and consumed a star.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
On rare occasions one of Livermore’s relatives or friends attended these sessions; but most evenings Charles and Kate sat alone, in the dark, holding hands.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
It’s possible this year’s conditions could grow into a rarer and fiercer “super El Niño.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Total solar eclipses occur somewhere on Earth roughly every 18 months, but witnessing one from the same location is much rarer.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
Live jazz is rare and getting rarer in Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
As the smooth highway north of Seville stretched into the vastness of pastoral Extremadura, the chances of finding a lynx, which remains rarer than the snow leopard or the Bengal tiger, felt impossibly small.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
The rarer and more bizarre an object, the more desirable it was.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
But now it's one of the rarest of all British butterflies, with it numbers declining by 62% since 1970.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The historic observations, led by a University of Hawai'i at Mānoa research team, provide an unprecedented look at one of the world's rarest and most mysterious sharks without removing it from its habitat.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
Nevertheless, Haaland has emerged as the rarest sort of superstar: the one who can single-handedly spark a Cinderella run.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
They hope that includes the protected Torrey pine stand, which is one of the rarest pine species in the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
But she would be the only one, the rarest of exceptions.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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
The citizens rared up and threw an anti-chain tax for a loss.
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
"Every pitch, I rared back, and after a while I didn't even look at the target."
From Time Magazine Archive
As he got near the barn, he shied at a rock in the grass, stumbled, rared up, and raced away, tail arched high.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Bass was also who she had to be — measured, forceful and raring to defend her record, without coming off as defensive.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
"It's the back end of the season and I'm raring to go," Watkins told TNT Sports after Villa moved one step closer to a place in a European semi-final.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
While Exxon Mobil balked at the idea of returning to a country that twice nationalized its assets, the oil-field service firms that work with national oil companies and Texas wildcatters alike are raring to go.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
The Harris campaign ended the night raring to debate again.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2024
I put a hand on his arm, surprised at the tautness of his body, like a wolf raring for a fight.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
