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.

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How to use rare in a sentence?

1. Ed Felsenthal:

   This is the first time we've chosen someone no longer alive as Person of the Year, but it's also very rare that a person's influence grows so immensely in death, his murder has prompted a global reassessment of the Saudi crown prince and a really long overdue look at the devastating war in Yemen.

2. George W. Bush, Inaugural address, 2001:

   The peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet common in our country. With a simple oath, we affirm old traditions and make new beginnings.

3. Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso:

   I've been to these meetings for a long time. But this is a very rare case where opposition against the United States was unanimous.

4. W. Somerset Maugham:

   Hypocrisy is the most difficult and nerve-racking vice that any man can pursue; it needs an unceasing vigilance and a rare detachment of spirit. It cannot, like adultery or gluttony, be practiced at spare moments; it is a whole-time job.

5. Elizabeth Turner:

   I serendipitously came across a few very rare examples of the material during my unrelated PhD research, long ago, on fossil microbial reefs, when I became a professor and had my own grants, I was able to return to the field sites and collect more material so that I had a more robust collection to work from.