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:
Tuesday’s memorial ceremonies for Sen. Lindsey Graham were a rare moment of amity in today’s bitter politics of Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
This has been a relatively rare occurrence in the U.S. — but it does happen.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
In Portugal, they had been rare until the deadly 2017 fires in Pedrogao Grande changed things.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
That contrast gave researchers a rare opportunity to measure how previous prescribed burns affected giant sequoia survival during extreme wildfires.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
Nighthand gave him a rare flash of a true smile: it altered his face.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
That’s rarer than you think and a good plan makes it rarer still.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
Perhaps, with new technologies and methods of analysis, they can become even rarer, enabling economics to shed the image of a dismal science.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Live jazz is rare and getting rarer in Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
As scientists collect year after year of temperature data, records should in fact become rarer over time – at least in a stable climate.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
Some of the rarer elements are generated in the supernova explosion itself.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Until now, astronomers had mostly detected only the brightest and rarest ancient quasars, leaving too few examples to study the early quasar population as a whole.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 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
The arrival of a new bull giraffe at a safari park could help save one of the world's rarest species of the mammal.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Many of the news stories highlighted the threat to the unique plants and animals inhabiting the island off the coast of Santa Barbara, from plucky, pint-sized foxes to the rarest pine trees in North America.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Sugar was considered a spice, though not the rarest and most expensive.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
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
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
"Every pitch, I rared back, and after a while I didn't even look at the target."
From Time Magazine Archive
People screamed and ran, horses and mules screeched and rared.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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
With England six days away from taking on France in their opening Group D game at Euro 2025, Sarina Wiegman's "special player" is fit and raring to go.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2025
The Harris campaign ended the night raring to debate again.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2024
Given that in early returns, 73% of voters in his district chose anyone but him, and Santiago is raring to blast his former ally, De León better toughen up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
“You’d better hurry now. Your grandpa is raring to go.”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
