adjective
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exalted in nature or character; lofty
a rarefied spiritual existence
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current within only a small group; esoteric or exclusive
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(of a gas, esp the atmosphere at high altitudes) having a low density; thin
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rarefied
Explanation
Use the adjective rarefied to describe things that are so stylish, smart, or moral that they seem elevated above the ordinary, like the rarefied conversation of brilliant scholars. To correctly pronounce rarefied, accent the first syllable: "RARE-uh-fied." In addition to high-minded conversation, the word rarefied can also describe the air in high elevations that has less oxygen, like the rarefied air that can be challenging to mountain climbers. Sometimes the quality of airlessness shades the other meaning of the word, implying that the rarefied world of elegant people isn't comfortable to everyone.
Vocabulary lists containing rarefied
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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This Week in Pop Culture: December 1 - 7, 2018
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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.
But there’s a more rarefied manner of doing away with these immortal beings.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
Their stakes are real, but the dispute comes to the court in such rarefied doctrinal form that the underlying injury almost disappears.
From Slate • Apr. 10, 2026
That reach extends into more rarefied spaces too.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
The privilege is pressure, pressure is a privilege and the possibility of making such rarefied history, with folks at FanGraphs giving the Dodgers 27% odds to win this World Series, is anything but automatic.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026
At a modest high school in the Tidewater city of Portsmouth, not far from John Casteen’s boyhood home, a guidance-office wall filled with college pennants does not include one from rarefied Virginia.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
