rare
1 Americanadjective
-
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
-
thinly distributed over an area; few and widely separated.
Lighthouses are rare on that part of the coast.
- Synonyms:
- infrequent, sparse
- Antonyms:
- frequent
-
having the component parts not closely compacted together; not dense: lightheaded from the rare mountain air.
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.
- Synonyms:
- inimitable, incomparable, choice
- Antonyms:
- inferior
adjective
verb (used without object)
adjective
-
not widely known; not frequently used or experienced; uncommon or unusual
a rare word
-
occurring seldom
a rare appearance
-
not widely distributed; not generally occurring
a rare herb
-
(of a gas, esp the atmosphere at high altitudes) having a low density; thin; rarefied
-
uncommonly great; extreme
kind to a rare degree
-
exhibiting uncommon excellence; superlatively good or fine
rare skill
-
highly valued because of its uncommonness
a rare prize
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
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”
Explanation
If an event is rare, it doesn't happen often. If an object is rare, there aren't many of its kind. Obviously, finding a rare gem is a rare occasion. Rare comes from the Latin word rarus, meaning “widely spaced,” as rare things are — whether in actual space or in time. You thought it was rare to meet someone you have so much in common with, until he fainted looking at the rare steak you ordered. The rare that describes prepared meat actually has a separate origin: it comes from the long-gone word rear, meaning “half-cooked.”
Vocabulary lists containing rare
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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"The Witch Boy" by Molly Knox Ostertag
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Workshop 5, Part 1
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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:
For locals, the saltworks had also been a source of pride, a large employer and a rare example of industry co-existing with nature.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
He battled Stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare and aggressive type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Because these tumors often metastasize, the reptiles provide scientists with a rare chance to observe how cancer begins, evolves, and spreads under natural conditions.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
His longevity as manager is also rare in the current era - having led the national team for 14 years.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
“Good thinking, Simon. It’s the rare baby nurse who could figure that out so quickly!”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
That’s rarer than you think and a good plan makes it rarer still.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
But Rodin and Michelangelo, as this exhibition wonderfully reminds us, achieved something perhaps rarer: sculpting bodies whose individual force, presence and meaning is entirely self-evident.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
ACT rainforest manager Ian Dow said the pockets that remained were globally important and even rarer than their tropical equivalents such as the Amazon.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
It’s rare that an artist is given such freedom to create a singular work, rarer still to witness the birth of a new voice ringing with such clarity on screen.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
It grew rarer as the pattern of their warring changed.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
Until now, astronomers had mostly detected only the brightest and rarest ancient quasars, leaving too few examples to study the early quasar population as a whole.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
Nevertheless, Haaland has emerged as the rarest sort of superstar: the one who can single-handedly spark a Cinderella run.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Chief executive officer Dr David Gibson said black-veined white butterflies were some of "the rarest animals in the UK at the moment" and the team hoped to change that.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
Many of the news stories highlighted the threat to the unique plants and animals inhabiting the island off the coast of Santa Barbara, from plucky, pint-sized foxes to the rarest pine trees in North America.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Also, because it came not from Africa, but from some far Eastern land, it was the rarest, and most terrible, somehow.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
A group of Chinese billionaires, including Pony Ma, the Tencent founder, issued rared public statements supporting President Xi Jinping’s contentious handling of the economy.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
The citizens rared up and threw an anti-chain tax for a loss.
From Time Magazine Archive
Aware that Newton Minow got a lot of acreage simply by calling TV a "vast wasteland," Goldwater rared back his onager at a Greek-American dinner in Chicago and let the rocks fly at U.S. television.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Every pitch, I rared back, and after a while I didn't even look at the target."
From Time Magazine Archive
As he got near the barn, he shied at a rock in the grass, stumbled, rared up, and raced away, tail arched high.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Bass was also who she had to be — measured, forceful and raring to defend her record, without coming off as defensive.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
America’s top oil producers have expressed hesitancy about rushing back to Venezuela, but the companies that provide them with equipment and expertise are raring to go.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
Bright said it was "really refreshing" to return to Chelsea training and is now raring to go for the new campaign.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2025
The Harris campaign ended the night raring to debate again.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2024
I’d barely closed my eyes good when T.R. went to growling and the mules commenced raring up and squealing.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
