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View synonyms for rare

rare

1

[ rair ]

adjective

, rar·er, rar·est.
  1. 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

  2. thinly distributed over an area; few and widely separated:

    Lighthouses are rare on that part of the coast.

    Synonyms: infrequent, sparse

    Antonyms: frequent

  3. having the component parts not closely compacted together; not dense: lightheaded from the rare mountain air.

    rare gases;

    lightheaded from the rare mountain air.

  4. unusually great:

    a rare display of courage.

  5. unusually excellent; admirable; fine:

    She showed rare tact in inviting them.

    Synonyms: inimitable, incomparable, choice

    Antonyms: inferior



rare

2

[ rair ]

adjective

, rar·er, rar·est.
  1. (of meat) cooked just slightly:

    He likes his steak rare.

rare

3

[ rair ]

verb (used without object)

, Older Use.
, rared, rar·ing.

rare

1

/ rɛə /

adjective

  1. (of meat, esp beef) very lightly cooked


rare

2

/ rɛə /

adjective

  1. not widely known; not frequently used or experienced; uncommon or unusual

    a rare word

  2. occurring seldom

    a rare appearance

  3. not widely distributed; not generally occurring

    a rare herb

  4. (of a gas, esp the atmosphere at high altitudes) having a low density; thin; rarefied
  5. uncommonly great; extreme

    kind to a rare degree

  6. exhibiting uncommon excellence; superlatively good or fine

    rare skill

  7. highly valued because of its uncommonness

    a rare prize

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Derived Forms

  • ˈrareness, noun

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Other Words From

  • rareness noun

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Word History and Origins

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”

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Word History and Origins

Origin of rare1

Old English hrēr ; perhaps related to hreaw raw

Origin of rare2

C14: from Latin rārus sparse

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Example Sentences

Suddenly the normally rare, top-of-the-line down is popping up all at brands that have never carried it.

Since then, some vaccines have been associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome, but it’s rare.

On rare occasions, vaccines can elicit the same sort of immunological misfiring.

Overall, serious side effects from vaccines already approved by the FDA are rare.

In fact, many SEOs generally agree that it is rare to see a full recovery from a Google core update without Google running another Google core update.

Such statements are rare, as the Guards routinely avoid going public with news about the demise of one of their commanders.

Community policing is expensive and, in an era of budget cuts, increasingly rare.

It was a rare moment of bipartisan unity in partisan Washington.

The problem, though, is that this advice presumes that death threats are rare and abnormal.

By the time it concluded with a sing-a-long of “XO,” Beyoncé had done the rare thing.

It has only been a rare and exceptional class hitherto that has gone on learning throughout life.

And the absence of paper and so forth, rendering notebooks costly and rare, made a large amount of memorizing necessary.

Flowers, fruits, and insects were her favorite subjects, and were painted with rare delicacy.

Father, mother, sister, and brother all played and worked together with rare combination of sympathetic gifts.

Wheat gives place to Rye about the same time, and the Potato, at first comparatively rare, becomes universal.

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petrichor

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