rare en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ɹɛə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ɹɛɚ/ (Canada, General-American)
- /ɹiə/ New Zealand, cheer–chair merger
- /ɹeː/ (Australia)
- [ɹɜɹ] (Ireland)
- /ɹɛɹ/ (Canada, General-American)
- /ɹɛː/ (British, Southern, Standard)
- /ɹeə/ (New-Zealand) without the cheer–chair merger
- [ɾeːɾ] (Scotland)
- (Canada) audio
- /ɹɛ/ (Multicultural-London-English)
- (US) audio
- /ɹɜː(ɹ)/ Lancashire, fair–fur merger
- /ɾeɾ/ (Scotland)
Etymology
From Middle English rare, from Old French rare, rere (“rare, uncommon”), from Latin rārus (“loose, spaced apart, thin, infrequent”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“friable, thin”). Displaced native English geason (“rare, scarce”) (from Middle English gesen, from Old English gǣsne); and largely displaced Middle English seld (“rare, uncommon”) (from Old English selden) and Middle English seldscene (“rare, rarely seen, infrequent”) (from Old English seldsēne) hence modern English seld
Meanings
-
Very uncommon; scarce.
Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.
While many material components in Andromeda are familiar, we have also discovered rarer and more valuable materials; attributable to exposure to the Scourge, or mysterious alien technology.
2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Technology: Augmentations Codex entry:
-
Small in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse.
The anterior and posterior skin of the upper chest and shoulders demonstrated irregularly jagged borders with areas of soot and charring focally. The soft and bony tissues underlying the borders were markedly damaged by presumed explosive injuries. There were rare abrasions and contusions of the chest and upper extremities. The lower extremities demonstrated rare abrasions and contusions as well as severe lacerations of the anteromedial knees with underlying fractures of the distal aspects of the femora (Image 4).
2016 March, Amanda M McLemore et al., “Suicide by Bomb, with Decapitation”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):Moreover, the SF [Superficial fascia] splits to surround vessels and nerves, ensuring their patency, and forms the so-called retinacula cutis, which has the function of connecting the SF to the skin (retinacula cutis superficialis, or skin ligaments) and to the deep fascia (retinacula cutis profundis), to provide a dynamic and flexible anchor of the skin to underlying tissues [16,20]. The deep septa are rare, thin, and oblique and have an apparent lesser organization, allowing great autonomy between superficial and deep fascia.
2025 January-February, Caterina Fede et al., “The Human Superficial Fascia: A Narrative Review”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
- (of a gas) Thin; of low density.
-
(UK, slang) Good; enjoyable.
Sees her reflection in a butcher shop. She finds it all quite rare That her meat's all vanity fair.
1981, Chris Difford (lyrics), Glenn Tilbrook (vocal), "Vanity Fair" (song)
-
(US, slang) Cool; excellent.
I whistled for a cab and when it came near / The license plate said ‘fresh’ and it had dice in the mirror. / If anything I could say that this cab was rare.
1990, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (TV show theme song)
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| rarer | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| rarest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
everyday · routinary · common as bums · plain · basic · nonrare · frequent · common · bog-standard · general · widespread · habitual · common as muck · routine · par for the course · usual · common as pig tracks · quotidian · average · workaday · common as dirt · frequent · pedestrian · common · ten a penny · dime a dozen · two a penny · common · regular
Deriveds
rare as hen's teeth · ultrarare · rare groove · rare earth mineral · rare gas · rare earth metal · rare as a four-leaf clover · unrare · rare spring-sedge · rarify · rare earth · nonrare · rare-earth element · rareish · in rare form · rareness · rare animal · on rare form · raresome · superrare · vanishingly rare · rare earth element · rare earth magnet · rare as rocking horse shit · rarepair · rare bird · semirare
Hyponyms
Relateds
For the adverb (e.g. rarely) see Thesaurus:occasionally · rarefy · rareness · rarity · frequency
Synonyms
seld · infrequent · scarce · scantling · rare · seldom · superrare · uncommon · raresome · selly · non-common · scarce · geason · seld · unfrequent · dearthy · in short supply · few and far between · selly · scant · selcouth · selcouth · uncommon · geason
Translations (131)
nrf rare (very uncommon) · ba һирәк (very uncommon) · be рэ́дкі (very uncommon) · oc rare (very uncommon) · hi दुर्लभ (very uncommon) · fo sjáldsamur (very uncommon) · ja 稀な (very uncommon) · grc σπάνιος (very uncommon) · fa شاذ (very uncommon) · ang seldlic (very uncommon) · ko 희박(稀薄)하다 (thin density gas) · bg ря́дък (very uncommon) · fa کمیاب (very uncommon) · io rara (very uncommon) · sv sällsynt (very uncommon) · ru разрежённый (thin density gas) · eu arraro (very uncommon) · id langka (very uncommon) · de selten (very uncommon) · dsb rědki (very uncommon) · lt retas (very uncommon) · ckb نایاب (very uncommon) · ko 드물다 (very uncommon) · sk riedky (very uncommon) · vi hiếm (very uncommon) · mi mokomokorea (very uncommon) · izh harva (very uncommon) · it raro (very uncommon) · smb arôre (very uncommon) · bg разреден (thin density gas) · te అరుదు (very uncommon) · es muy incomún (very uncommon) · sa दुर्लभ (very uncommon) · cy prin (very uncommon) · fur râr (very uncommon) · bg рядък (thin density gas) · ga annamh (very uncommon) · et haruldane (very uncommon) · de verdünnt (thin density gas) · sv ovanlig (very uncommon) · es ralo (thin density gas) · ru ре́дкий (very uncommon) · la rārus (very uncommon) · fr rare (very uncommon) · arz نادر (very uncommon) · sh рије́дак (very uncommon) · cmn 稀疏 (very uncommon) · az nadir (very uncommon) · cs vzácný (very uncommon) · fo rárur (very uncommon) · ms jarang (very uncommon) · oc escàs (very uncommon) · de rar (very uncommon) · mi ongeonge (very uncommon) · ro rar (very uncommon) · ro rarefiat (thin density gas) · el σπάνιος (very uncommon) · zza nadir (very uncommon) · gl raro (very uncommon) · hu ritka (very uncommon) · sl rédek (very uncommon) · cmn 稀有 (very uncommon) · es ralo (very uncommon) · sq rrallë (very uncommon) · et erakordne (very uncommon) · fi harva (thin density gas) · bg необикновен (very uncommon) · tr ender (very uncommon) · sh rédak (very uncommon) · tr nadide (very uncommon) · te దుర్లభము (very uncommon) · cu рѣдъкъ (very uncommon) · sc raru (very uncommon) · oc requist (very uncommon) · hi कमयाब (very uncommon) · eo rara (very uncommon) · fi harvinainen (very uncommon) · cs řídký (very uncommon) · gd gann (very uncommon) · ur شاذ (very uncommon) · hi नायाब (very uncommon) · cmn 罕見 /罕见 (very uncommon) · eo malofta (very uncommon) · tr nadir (very uncommon) · pt rarefeito (thin density gas) · ar نَادِر (very uncommon) · ca rar (very uncommon) · ca rar (thin density gas) · rm rer (very uncommon) · no skjelden (very uncommon) · mi mokorea (very uncommon) · ja 珍しい (very uncommon) · uk рідки́й (very uncommon) · rm rar (very uncommon) · da sjælden (very uncommon) · oc arrarit (very uncommon) · hi विरल (very uncommon) · uk рі́дкісний (very uncommon) · pl rzadki (very uncommon) · id jarang (very uncommon) · pt raro (very uncommon) · hi नादिर (very uncommon) · mk редок (very uncommon) · lv rets (very uncommon) · ajp نادر (very uncommon) · nv bídin hóyééʼ (very uncommon) · ko 희귀(稀貴)하다 (very uncommon) · mi mōmōhanga (very uncommon) · gd ainneamh (very uncommon) · sk vzácny (very uncommon) · ang selden (very uncommon) · cmn 稀少 (very uncommon) · az seyrək (very uncommon) · fa نایاب (very uncommon) · vec raro (very uncommon) · ms nadir (very uncommon) · sh rijédak (very uncommon) · tl bihira (very uncommon) · es raro (very uncommon) · scn raru (very uncommon) · mi onge (very uncommon) · nl zeldzaam (very uncommon) · ga tearc (very uncommon) · fr peu commun (very uncommon) · hi अप्राप्य (very uncommon) · oc rar (very uncommon) · sa विरल (very uncommon) · es insólito (very uncommon) · he נדיר (very uncommon) · ast raru (very uncommon) · sh ре́дак (very uncommon)