rare

[ rair ]

/ rɛər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rare ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, rar·er, rar·est.

coming or occurring far apart in time; unusual; uncommon: a rare disease; His visits are rare occasions.

thinly distributed over an area; few and widely separated: Lighthouses are rare on that part of the coast.

having the component parts not closely compacted together; not dense: 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.

Nearby words

rapturous, rapturously, raptus, rar, rara avis, rare, rare bird, a, rare book, rare earth, rare earths, rare gas

Origin of rare

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin rārus loose, wide apart, thin, infrequent

SYNONYMS FOR rare

1 exceptional, extraordinary, singular.

2 sparse, infrequent.

5 choice, incomparable, inimitable.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rare ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR rare

1 common.

2 frequent.

5 inferior.

SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR rare ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsrare·ness, noun

Can be confusedextinct rare scarce

Definition for rarest (2 of 2)

rare

[ rair ]

/ rɛər /

adjective, rar·er, rar·est.

(of meat) cooked just slightly: He likes his steak rare.

Origin of rare

1645–55; variant of earlier rear, Middle English rere, Old English hrēr lightly boiled

Related formsrare·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rarest

Old age is the saddest and rarest way to go; I witnessed it only once.
A Million Ways to Die in Prison|Daniel Genis|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Not only, in the rarest of cases, where there a female lead in a blockbuster action movie, but the damsel in distress was a dude.
Team Peeta or Team Gale: Why the ‘Hunger Games’ Love Triangle Ruins ‘Mockingjay – Part 1’|Kevin Fallon|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This one features no red carpet, no paparazzi and, only in the rarest of circumstances, a celebrity.
Backstage at the Razzie Awards, Honoring Hollywood’s Worst Films|David Eckstein|March 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
George H.W. Bush was that rarest of rarities: a genuinely modest man in the office of the presidency.
David Frum on How George H.W. Bush Was a Man of Greatness in Modesty|David Frum|October 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST

In my book it certainly qualifies as a “rarest of the rare” kind of crime.
When India Wants the Rapists Hanged|Dilip D’Souza|September 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Under the law there should be a light burning, but it is one of the rarest things to find one.
The Battle with the Slum|Jacob A. Riis.
This is the highest, happiest, rarest state of the human soul.
The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St John, Vol. II|Marcus Dods
For every day they are not meet, Or for a careless tone; They are for rarest, and most sweet, And noblest use alone.
Legends and Lyrics: First Series|Adelaide Anne Procter
Truth is the hall-mark of entire sanctification; it is the highest and rarest attainment of the Christian life.
The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians|G. G. Findlay
Go quickly, and get another, and seek out the prettiest and rarest.'
Grimms' Fairy Tales|The Brothers Grimm

British Dictionary definitions for rarest (1 of 2)

rare

/ (rɛə) /

adjective

not widely known; not frequently used or experienced; uncommon or unusuala rare word

occurring seldoma rare appearance

not widely distributed; not generally occurringa rare herb

(of a gas, esp the atmosphere at high altitudes) having a low density; thin; rarefied

uncommonly great; extremekind to a rare degree

exhibiting uncommon excellence; superlatively good or finerare skill

highly valued because of its uncommonnessa rare prize

Derived Formsrareness, noun

Word Origin for rare

C14: from Latin rārus sparse

British Dictionary definitions for rarest (2 of 2)

rare

/ (rɛə) /

adjective

(of meat, esp beef) very lightly cooked

Word Origin for rare

Old English hrēr; perhaps related to hreaw raw

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for rarest (1 of 3)

rare

adj.1

"unusual," late 14c., "thin, airy, porous;" mid-15c., "few in number and widely separated, sparsely distributed, seldom found;" from Old French rere "sparse" (14c.), from Latin rarus "thinly sown, having a loose texture; not thick; having intervals between, full of empty spaces," from PIE *ra-ro-, from root *ere- "to separate; adjoin" (cf. Sanskrit rte "besides, except," viralah "distant, tight, rare;" Old Church Slavonic rediku "rare," Old Hittite arhaš "border," Lithuanian irti "to be dissolved"). "Few in number," hence, "unusual." Related: Rareness. In chemistry, rare earth is from 1818.

Word Origin and History for rarest (1 of 3)

rare

adj.2

"undercooked," 1650s, variant of Middle English rere, from Old English hrere "lightly cooked," probably related to hreran "to stir, move, shake, agitate," from Proto-Germanic *hror- (cf. Old Frisian hrera "to stir, move," Old Saxon hrorian, Dutch roeren, German rühren, Old Norse hroera), from PIE base *kere- "to mix, confuse; cook" (cf. Greek kera- "to mix," krasis "mixture"). Originally of eggs, not recorded in reference to meat until 1784, and according to OED, in this sense "formerly often regarded as an Americanism, although it was current in many English dialects ...."

Word Origin and History for rarest (2 of 3)

rare

"rise up," 1833, dialectal variant of rear (v.). Sense of "eager" (in raring to go) first recorded 1909. Related: Rared; raring.

rare

adjective, rar·er, rar·est.

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Nearby words

Origin of rare

Definition for rarest (2 of 2)

rare

adjective, rar·er, rar·est.

Origin of rare

Examples from the Web for rarest

British Dictionary definitions for rarest (1 of 2)

rare

adjective

Word Origin for rare

British Dictionary definitions for rarest (2 of 2)

rare

adjective

Word Origin for rare

Word Origin and History for rarest (1 of 3)

rare

Word Origin and History for rarest (1 of 3)

rare

Word Origin and History for rarest (2 of 3)

rare