rare Hear it!

rare¹ Definition

rare (rer)

adjective rar′er, 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

rare¹ Related Forms
rare′·ness noun
rare² Definition

rare (rer)

adjective rar′er, 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

rare² Related Forms
rare′·ness noun
rare³ Definition

rare (rer)

intransitive verb rared, rar′·ing

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

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.

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.
  • breed: Ah singing drummers, they're a rare breed.
  • occurrence: That's a fairly rare occurrence in this business.
  • specie: The rarest species are most at risk of extinction.
  • bird: Our small groups have the chance to observe and record some of Britain's rarest birds!
  • commodity: Their group particularly prides itself on providing a very high level of one to one personal client service - a rare commodity nowadays.

Modifying Another Word

  • extremely: Burials of this period are extremely rare in the region.
  • comparatively: Shortly after the restart, Hursts fell victim to that classic, if comparatively rare sucker punch: a goal direct from a corner.
  • relatively: These meadows are relatively rare in the UK; Northern Ireland has a significant proportion of this resource.
  • nationally: A cluster of temporary ponds has already yielded a record of a nationally rare water beetle.
  • exceedingly: The region has examples of the exceedingly rare survival of funerary monuments above ground.
  • very: Exposure to uranium is a very rare cause of lung cancer.

Infinitive complement

  • find: It's rare to find more than one major story on each page of these papers.
  • encounter: What people have said about the book: âItâs rare to encounter a work as authoritative and accessible as this.
  • see: It is rare to see a walker in the middle of nowhere in the hot Florida sun.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: However, in recent years it has become rare for a trainee to come into the industry at this level.
  • seem: In any case, such imitation seems surprisingly rare except in a modeling experiment using specially prepared videos.

Preposition: in

  • lowland: The pool system is a particularly important feature, as these are generally very rare in Northern Irish lowland raised bogs.
  • cultivation: This activity is rare in cultivation in global terms.
rare Quotes

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

Nothing is thought rare Which is not new and follow'd, yet we know That what was worne some twenty yeare agoe, Comes into grace againe.

—Fo, Dario

O rare Ben Jonson.

—Jonson, Ben

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

And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever come perfect days.

—Lowell,James Russell

In this country it is rare for anyone, let alone a publisher, to take writers seriously.

—Powell, Anthony Dymoke