rarity
Americannoun
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something rare, unusual, or uncommon.
Snowstorms are a rarity in the South.
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something esteemed or interesting in being rare, uncommon, or curious.
That folio is a rarity that will bring a good price.
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the state or quality of being rare.
-
rare occurrence; infrequency.
Volcanic eruptions on the island occur with great rarity.
-
unusual excellence.
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thinness, as of air or a gas.
noun
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a rare person or thing, esp something interesting or valued because it is uncommon
-
the state or quality of being rare
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rarity
1550–60; < Latin rāritās thinness, equivalent to rār ( us ) rare 1 + -itās -ity
Vocabulary lists containing rarity
"My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning
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"The Tempest," Vocabulary from Acts 1 and 2
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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:
Reilly spent time teaching young staffers the art of campaigning, a rarity in politics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The rarity of Eddins’ indictment makes it all the more valuable.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
And in a world where sports rivalries are now commoditized, sanitized, and milked for every last ounce of monetizable content, the rarity of Argentina vs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
In other words, a benefit like the caregiver leave that EMD Serono offers is still a rarity.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
A car was a rarity, and the sight of one in the distance was sometimes enough to cause bedlam during a class.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
In the 1950s and ’60s, there would be earworm TV-show themes—from “Have Gun—Will Travel,” “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,” “Rawhide”—but over the decades that followed, corral-based hits became rarities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
Of course, there is the requisite disc of rarities and B-sides.
From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2025
Once rarities, they are now appearing at occasions ranging from birthday parties and weddings, to major sporting events.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2025
Showstoppers like Donna and Viatina-19 are rarities in Brazil, where there are more than 230 million cows, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
We might joke about looking “kempt” or being "couth," but in fact the negatives have no opposite forms—they’re either obsolete rarities or whimsical inventions.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
