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rare1 definition

rare (rer)

adjective rarer rar′er, rarest rar′·est

  1. not frequently encountered; scarce; unusual
  2. unusually good; excellent a rare scholar
  3. not dense; thin; tenuous rare atmosphere
  4. Obsolete not close together; scattered

Etymology: ME < MFr < L rarus, loose, thin, scarce, prob. < IE base *(e)re-, loose > Gr erēmos, solitary

Related Forms:

rare2 definition

rare (rer)

adjective rarer rar′er, rarest rar′·est

not completely cooked; underdone; partly raw: said esp. of meat

Etymology: earlier rear < ME rere < OE hrere, lightly boiled (basic sense prob. “disturbed, moved”) < base of hreran, to move

Related Forms:

rare3 definition

rare (rer)

intransitive verb rared, raring rar′·ing

  1. Dialectal rear (esp. & )
  2. ☆ Informal to be eager, enthusiastic, etc.: used in prp. raring to go

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

rare Synonyms

rare

modif.

  1. Uncommon

    unusual, singular, extraordinary; see unusual 1, 2.

  2. Scarce

    sparse, few, scanty, meager, limited, short, expensive, precious, out of circulation, off the market, in great demand, occasional, uncommon, isolated, scattered, infrequent, deficient, almost unobtainable, few and far between*; see also unique 1.

    Antonyms profuse, cheap*, abounding. *

  3. Choice

    exceptional, select, matchless, superlative; see excellent, unique 1.

  4. Thin

    tenuous, light, rarefied; see thin 1, 5.

  5. Not completely cooked

    undercooked, underdone, not cooked, not done, lightly cooked, nearly raw, red, bloody, saignant, bleu (both French), not thoroughly cooked; see also raw 1.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

rare Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • Very: Blood & Lymphatic System Disorders Very Rare: Blood count changes ( leucopenia, thrombocytopenia ).

Modifies a noun

  • occasion: You no longer take showers even on the rare occasion there is hot water.

Modifying Another Word

  • extremely: Burials of this period are extremely rare in the region.

Infinitive complement

  • find: It's rare to find more than one major story on each page of these papers.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: However, in recent years it has become rare for a trainee to come into the industry at this level.

Preposition: in

  • lowland: The pool system is a particularly important feature, as these are generally very rare in Northern Irish lowland raised bogs.
rare usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

rare quotes

Oft seldan hw×r ×fter leodhyre lytle hwile bongar bugeth. It is very rare that, after the fall of a prince, the deadly spear rests for long.

-Anonymous

Suddenly, as rare things will, it vanished.

-Browning, Robert

Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should dwell.

-Doyle, SirArthur Conan

rare quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"rare." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/rare>

APA Style

rare. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/rare

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