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rather

[adv. rath-er, rah-ther; interj. rath-ur, rah-thur]

Example Sentences Origin

adverb

in a measure; to a certain extent; somewhat: rather good.

in some degree: I rather thought you would regret it.

more properly or justly; with better reason: The contrary is rather to be supposed.

sooner; more readily or willingly: to die rather than yield.

more properly or correctly speaking; more truly: He is a painter or, rather, a watercolorist.

EXPAND

on the contrary: It's not generosity, rather self-interest.

rather than, instead of: Tutoring is provided by older students rather than teachers. Rather than complain, you should try to make changes.

COLLAPSE

interjection

Chiefly British. emphatically yes; assuredly; without doubt: Is the book worth reading?Rather!

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Rather is always a great word to know.

So is slumgullion. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Idiom

had/would rather, to prefer that or to: I had much rather we not stay. We would rather go for dinner after the show.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English hrathor, comparative of hræth quick, rathe

Example Sentences

The new cabinet is now expected to consist mainly of technical experts rather than politicians.

However, many of my friends have found rather high-paying positions at market-research firms.

Politicians should concentrate on maximising the mental health of their voters, rather than the size of their pay cheques.

EXPAND

The new cabinet is now expected to consist mainly of technical experts rather than politicians.

However, many of my friends have found rather high-paying positions at market-research firms.

Politicians should concentrate on maximising the mental health of their voters, rather than the size of their pay cheques.

Yet teens gravitate toward peers for another, more powerful reason: to invest in the future rather than the past.

We nuke prepared dishes rather than growing our own food and machine-wash ready-made clothes rather than sewing and scrubbing.

Evolution has so many holes, but yet it is being taught to our children as fact, rather than the theory it is.

Husky, rather coarse plant with velvety green leaves, spectacul more add to my plant list.

He responded by making that aspect of the design flat rather than dome-shaped, so that it could still be slept on.

He acted as if he were someone running the meeting, they said, rather than as an invited guest.

They often hold multiple positions at the same time, and their job transitions are dovetailed rather than clear changes.

It backs the idea that what people really strive for is relative rather than absolute prosperity.

They also found that the fault must have ruptured all at once, rather than in smaller segments.

They wanted their employees to enter the amounts in the machine, rather than doing totals in their heads.

Burek is more a pie than sandwich, he rather had a pljeskavica in my opinion.

Some kinds of corn are grown for the beauty of their shelled ears rather than for eating.

Part of the problem was a blunt, bullet-shaped nose which pushed air in front of it rather than slicing through.

Instead it's better to turn questions into the kinds of questions that can be answered with evidence rather than opinion.

Focus on consumption, rather than income, disparities.

Further research, he added, should focus on the scarcity of fish rather than the abundance of krill.

Rather than listen to my concerns and identify with my unhappiness, adults labeled me as disturbed and sick.

The proposed building, when it has been erected will offer to contemplation some rather remarkable phenomena.

Paprika is commonly used for its ruddy color rather than for its taste.

Most heroes are more effective when they're social heroes rather than isolated heroes.

He will keep that payout rather than being paid anew this year, and the board has agreed to negotiate a new contract with him.

Rather it is corporate saving that has seen a sharp rise.

Turn off autofocus and try to focus by moving your body or arms rather than using the focusing mechanism on your lens.

Awareness requires a neural dialogue rather than any one key area.

Rather than fins, these fishapods had rudimentary limbs which they used to raise their flat bodies up from the muddy bottom.

Grown for its foliage rather than its clusters of small pinkish flowers.

It has been rather quiet on the volcano-front in the last week.

O'Connell asks students to evaluate his teaching midcourse rather than waiting for.

And he thinks that cities in developing countries should build up rather than out.

Today the field has again become a rather glorious mess.

Advanced dementia has often been treated as an amalgamation of symptoms in the aging, rather than a deadly illness in itself.

OK, so the founders' use of the masculine pronoun was rather archaic.

Use them sparingly, to accentuate the plants rather than overwhelm them.

Traditionally, science fiction revolves around action rather than drama, humor rather than tragedy.

Index funds match market returns rather than try to beat them.

The explanation seems to be sociological rather than technological.

In the daytime the place is rather washed out, the colors flattened.

She rather moved deliberately toward cold thereafter discovering she liked cold.

But they would rather take the ladder away and throw a stone instead of offering a helping hand.

Rather scarce and expensive because of time more add to my plant list.

Rather than spending time maintaining the blades, men could simply discard them when they became dull.

Rather than eliminate tenure, some colleges give faculty the choice of tenure or a status that comes with other benefits.

Principals will use go-betweens rather than talking directly.

In the battle against an exotic seaweed, biologists are employing a rather unusual solution: underwater vacuum cleaners.

Would rather have my cells cure me than some unborn kid whose cells require anti-rejection medication.

Rather extinction may have occurred because humans took over their caves.

Rather open structure with attractive, delicate branching pattern.

Not necessarily at its hardware or features, but rather for its presumptuous name.

Momentum strategies are fast, rather than slow, finance.

Yet some residents would rather run that risk than leave the place they call home.

The process of stating a problem in a language that is acceptable to a computer is primarily intuitive rather than formal.

Rather than being a silly one-off, the slapstick scene embodies the tone of the prehistoric miniseries.

Slow-growing, rather formal-looking plant with conical, dense crown.

The big problem is that it's used to disparage a candidate rather than be a valid discussion point.

Nagumo was seen as a man of action rather than introspection, happier at sea in command than in a staff job ashore.

Your feline may find it irresistible, but catnip has rather a different effect on mosquitoes.

And the mildly bawdy-now seeming rather innocent in an age of gangsta rap-beat goes on.

Both of these tropical species are rather tender, small to medium-size feather palms with graceful foliage and attractive trunks.

The practice of fitting cloth closely to the human form rather than draping it around the body was new.

Automakers have started using hybrid technology to boost power rather than efficiency.

Trevathan thinks that the pertinent question is not why humans have evolved midwifery, but rather why chimps have not.

Steinbeck came rather late to his interest in the biological sciences.

To avoid damaging branches, twist fruit off gently rather than pulling it.

Choose local shops that source their food from nearby suppliers rather than trucking or flying it in from around the world.

It appears you missed the real issue, a mistake of supporters rather than critical evaluators.

So topics and poems tend to show up rather randomly at rather random times.

Rather than tackling this or tossing them out, keep them around for their green foliage.

They move their homes and herds from time to time to follow sources of food for their herds rather than depend on crops.

Most mammals known from this time are thought of as relatively small, nocturnal creatures--the hunted rather than the hunters.

Dry-stacked stone walls are held together by friction and gravity rather than mortar.

If there was only ice, and never an ocean, the cooling of the planet should have contracted the ice rather than expanded it.

Because it vaporizes plastic rather than burning it, the process also creates less emissions than conventional combustion.

Selected for flavor rather than hardiness, they are the crown jewels of summer.

Rather than stovetop stirring, you stabilize the soufflé by beating sugar into the egg yolks and whites separately.

Seeds are rather difficult to start, especially when sown directly in garden.

Carl planted in vertical layers around the perimeter, relying on leaf color and texture rather than on flowers for interest.

Plants look tropical, and their garden value lies in size and structure rather than floral impact.

Use scissors rather than knives to cut herbs, or simply tear the parsley into pieces.

S low-growing, rather formal-looking plant with conical, dense crown.

It is a narrow, glib dollop of canned history, an affirmation of received thinking rather than a challenge to it.

Yet one bit of old media seems to be doing rather well.

Solyndra hopes to capture the wasted sunlight falling on roofs by making solar cells into cylinders rather than panels.

It was probably gold prospectors panning for gold who invaded, rather than panhandlers.

Rather than scholarly desiderata or close readings, it had bigger fish to fry, taking the wide-angle lens of concepts like.

Some places have rather odd agglomerations: whatever works best.

Companies would then buy cheap credits and continue doing business as usual rather than cutting their own emissions.

Rather than tossing the container into a recycle bin.

Rather it appears to result from a complex web of related factors, some genetic and others environmental.

What defines a bird rather than a non-avian feathered dinosaur has become a much more complex issue.

But rather than repaving the entire space, she left a long.

People are banding together around an idea, rather than an ideology.

Your best bet, though, is people you know rather than strangers.

Photograph people being active, rather than merely posing, and take enough time to put the subject at ease.

As he says: become a traveler rather than a tourist.

The iPhone has proved to be rather adept at replacing other pieces of hardware.

Rather than segregate engineering from the arts and.

They would rather accept less themselves than see a rival get ahead.

Techniques now coming of age allow astronomers to more easily photograph distant planets rather than.

Technology functions as a tool to enhance your experience, rather than as an end in itself.

S ome kinds of corn are grown for the beauty of their shelled ears rather than for eating.

On the left, a rather more vintage specimen, embalmed at the factory.

Nightmares may fuel anxiety rather than serving as an emotional release.

But it is a shark-a kind of fish with cartilage rather than bone for a skeleton-a slow-moving, polka-dotted, deep-diving shark.

The committee also produced a rather narrow definition of which faculty members were eligible to be studied:.

Yet some residents would rather run that risk than.

The weapons are designed to subdue, rather than kill.

In my field it's journal articles rather than books, so the economics of publishing is different.

Cobras are feared for their venom, but it's their meat that some people would rather eat.

Research would be initiated by working scientists rather than the agencies.

Integration has less appeal when pain rather than prosperity is ricocheting across borders.

Maurice the ostrich makes even the dirtiest of acts look rather graceful.

These infants would be better off dead rather than being totally altered by these women.

But as consumers increasingly listen to streaming, cloud-based music rather than storing it on their own.

Rather than talking in a mature manner about intellectual disagreements, these individuals have to go for the jugular.

The pattern is similar to that of the famous big cat, though the seal's coat is gray rather than golden in color.

Bacteria make a lot of smells, mostly ones that we'd rather not think about.

They're selling the romance of the destination rather than the aircraft.

Their diverse ranks have come a long way from their distant and rather simple cousin, the clam.

It is rather off the beaten track and there are few people there, especially in the morning.

My argument was conceived in my den before dawn in a stream of consciousness rather than streaming video.

Flying lemurs don't fly but rather glide from trees on wide flaps of skin stretched between their legs.

It saves space by getting the crop to grow up rather than sprawling out in the ground.

Coupled with the rather slow new lenses, you're not going to be able to get much separation.

They can watch, on the screen, as the needle goes into the vein rather than relying on landmarks on the patient's skin.

Finance seems to be a polytheistic rather than a monotheistic faith.

For example, he wrote about burning coal for fuel and using paper money rather than coins.

People study models now for the sake of studying the models, rather than using them to ask any original questions.

As shade tree, it filters sun rather than blocking it.

So we've been the entertainment for the village, rather than vice versa.

Fuel cells, however, convert hydrogen or hydrocarbon molecules rather than solid electrodes into electricity.

Rather than purchase season-specific tableware and decorations, simply accent what you already have.

The corporate raiders treated it as a blubbery target rather than a role model.

Although warthogs look fierce, they are actually herbivores who prefer to flee rather than fight.

Heâ¬"s back on target, a rather sheepish grin on his face.

And one popular hypothesis is that this cause, too, is fashion-but among doctors rather than columnists.

Rabbits prefer to lead rather than be led, and tend to dart left or right when handlers interrupt their field of vision.

It also has a large rounded mound in its middle, rather than the usual conical uplift.

Surely the last place aversion is really about fairness rather than selfishness, which you imply.

In other words, the rock is of a type found on continental shelves rather than in normal mid-ocean seabeds.

Much of the global temperature data is geologic in origin rather than direct observation.

Leaves rather small for camellia, giving medium-fine foliage texture.

But it is good enough, and scholarly enough, to warrant their attention rather than their scorn.

They would rather be annoyed by the wind than bitten.

Save those potato peels for the compost pile rather than discarding them.

Electrical conduit should run inside the counter, rather than through the block cells, wherever possible.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

adjective

Archaic. growing, blooming, or ripening early in the year or season.

Also, rath

[rath] .

Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English hræth, hræd quick, active; cognate with Dutch rad, Old Norse hrathr

Related forms

rathe·ly, adverb

rathe·ness, noun

Link To rather

Collins

World English Dictionary

rather (ˈrɑːðə)

—*adv*
1.	relatively or fairly; somewhat: it's rather dull
2.	to a significant or noticeable extent; quite: she's rather pretty
3.	to a limited extent or degree: I rather thought that was the case
4.	with better or more just cause: this text is rather to be deleted than rewritten
5.	more readily or willingly; sooner: I would rather not see you tomorrow

—*sentence connector*
6.	on the contrary: it's not cold. Rather, it's very hot indeed

—*sentence substitute*
7.	an expression of strong affirmation, often in answer to a question: Is it worth seeing? Rather!

usage Both would and had are used with rather in sentences such as I would rather (or had rather) go to the film than to the play. Had rather is less common and is now widely regarded as slightly old-fashioned

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

rather

O.E. hraþor "more quickly, earlier, sooner," also "more readily," comparative of hraþe, hræþe "quickly," related to hræð "quick," from P.Gmc. *khrathuz (cf. O.N. hraðr, O.H.G. hrad). The base form rathe was obsolete by 18c. except in poetry; superlative rathest fell

EXPAND

from use by 17c. Meaning "more willingly" is recorded from c.1300; sense of "more truly" is attested from c.1380.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

rather

see had rather.