Synonyms for rare
rɛərrare

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. rare

   Unique is alone of its kind; rare is infrequent of its kind; great poems are rare; "Paradise Lost" is unique. To say of a thing that it is rare is simply to affirm that it is now seldom found, whether previously common or not; as, a rare old book; a rare word; to call a thing scarce implies that it was at some time more plenty, as when we say food or money is scarce. A particular fruit or coin may be rare; scarce applies to demand and use, and almost always to concrete things; to speak of virtue, genius, or heroism as scarce would be somewhat ludicrous. Rare has the added sense of precious, which is sometimes, but not necessarily, blended with that above given; as, a rare gem. Extraordinary, signifying greatly beyond the ordinary, is a neutral word, capable of a high and good sense or of an invidious, opprobrious, or contemptuous signification; as, extraordinary genius; extraordinary wickedness; an extraordinary assumption of power; extraordinary antics; an extraordinary statement is incredible without overwhelming proof.

   See synonyms for GENERAL; NORMAL; USUAL.

   Synonyms:
   curious, extraordinary, incomparable, infrequent, odd, peculiar, precious, remarkable, scarce, singular, strange, uncommon, unique, unparalleled, unprecedented, unusual

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. rareadjective

   not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness

   "a rare word"; "rare books"

   Synonyms:
   rarefied, rarified, uncommon

   Antonyms:
   cooked, thick, ordinary, frequent, common, abundant

2. rareadjective

   recurring only at long intervals

   "a rare appearance"; "total eclipses are rare events"

   Synonyms:
   rarefied, rarified, uncommon

   Antonyms:
   cooked, common, ordinary, frequent, abundant, thick

3. rareadjective

   not widely distributed

   "rare herbs"; "rare patches of green in the desert"

   Synonyms:
   rarefied, rarified, uncommon

   Antonyms:
   abundant, frequent, common, thick, ordinary, cooked

4. rare, rarefied, rarifiedadjective

   having low density

   "rare gasses"; "lightheaded from the rarefied mountain air"

   Synonyms:
   uncommon, rarified, noble-minded, elevated, lofty, idealistic, exalted, sublime, high-minded, high-flown, grand, rarefied

   Antonyms:
   abundant, ordinary, thick, cooked, frequent, common

5. rare, uncommonadjective

   marked by an uncommon quality; especially superlative or extreme of its kind

   "what is so rare as a day in June"-J.R.Lowell; "a rare skill"; "an uncommon sense of humor"; "she was kind to an uncommon degree"

   Synonyms:
   rarefied, rarified, uncommon

   Antonyms:
   ordinary, thick, abundant, cooked, frequent, common

6. rareadjective

   (of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside

   "rare roast beef"

   Synonyms:
   rarefied, rarified, uncommon

   Antonyms:
   abundant, common, ordinary, frequent, thick, cooked

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. rareadjective

   Synonyms:
   thin, subtile, not dense

2. rareadjective

   Synonyms:
   SCARCE, uncommon, infrequent, unfrequent, singular, extraordinary, strange, out of the way, not common

3. rareadjective

   Synonyms:
   choice, fine, excellent, exquisite, incomparable, inimitable

4. rareadjective

   Synonyms:
   underdone, nearly raw, not well done or well cooked

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. rareadjective

   Synonyms:
   uncommon, unusual, strange, infrequent, singular, curious, exquisite, fine, incomparable, recherché, sparse, dispersed, subtile, fine, thin, rarefied, tenuous, underdone

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "rare":

   uncommon, scarce, nader, infrequent, unusual, few, nadir, rarely, sparse, exceptional, rarity, precious, seldom

Suggested Resources

1. RARE

   What does RARE stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the RARE acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

How to pronounce rare?

How to say rare in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use rare in a sentence?

1. Danielle Filson:

   In order to meet the New York State mandate of 180 in session school days, rather than cut into spring break, religious observances, or the already short and much-needed summer, we will pivot to remote learning days during rare instances when schools close due to inclement weather, we are sad for a year without snow days.

2. Ted Anthony:

   Vijay is that rare combination of a true area expert and a genuinely nimble mind, as we integrate Asia's operations to provide a multiformat news experience for our customers, I can't imagine a better leader to help a talented staff tell stories that make a difference and figure out how to deliver our journalism in exciting and unexpected new ways.

3. Kenna Quinet:

   If you consider an extremely rare event of the millions of women a year who are pregnant, there would be no way as individual people that we could take this risk to zero, i think its as low as we can hope for it to be.

4. Jason Miller:

   Antifa blaming is relatively rare outside the extreme fringe, what I've seen much more of is an effort to minimize the severity of what happened and/or the role of President Trump and other elite conservatives.

5. Alastair Key:

   The diversity of tools is fantastic. In the 1920s, the site produced some of earliest handaxes ever discovered in Britain. Now, for the first time, we have found rare evidence of scraping and piercing implements at this very early age.