rare
//ɹɛə//
Forms
- Comparative
- rarer
- Superlative
- rarest
- Plural
- rares
- present (v1)
- rare
- past (v2)
- rared
- past participle (v3)
- rared
- present participle
- raring
- 3rd person singular
- rares
Definitions
1.Very uncommon; scarce.
- 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.
2.Small in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse.
- I see a rare flower in the vase.
3.Thin; of low density.
- I see a rare flower in the vase.
4.Good; enjoyable.(slang)
- I see a rare flower in the vase.
1.A scarce or uncommon item.
1.To rear, rise up, start backwards.
- Frank pretended to rare back as if bedazzled, shielding his eyes with a forearm.
2.To rear, bring up, raise.
- Here I have to say that I was walking along dark-hearted, my nose out of joint about Audie's notice of her, for just as quickly as my feelings kindled, my old envy rared.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2015
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Word family
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”).