rarity
Americannoun
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rarities
plural
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something rare, unusual, or uncommon.
Snowstorms are a rarity in the South.
-
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.
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rare occurrence; infrequency.
Volcanic eruptions on the island occur with great rarity.
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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
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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:
Right now, there’s a halo of rarity around Raising Cane’s due to its newness, which likely adds to the psychosis.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
"People love the rarity and scarcity of stuff, like Pokémon cards, and there's rare birds out there that you can see and hear right now."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Reilly spent time teaching young staffers the art of campaigning, a rarity in politics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
In other words, a benefit like the caregiver leave that EMD Serono offers is still a rarity.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
He owned apartment buildings and, later, pool halls, and was famous for being that rarity “a man of honor.”
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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
They also suggest that these communities of animals, rather than extreme rarities, are actually widespread.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2025
We also have rarities like Australian finger lime, which gives a pinkie-size fruit that you cut in half, squeezing tart pearls into your mouth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024
We were both rarities in fencing—Peter for his race and me because I wore hijab.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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.
