rare

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɹɛ/ UK /ɹɛə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like ray /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Freq #2406

Meanings

1

adj
Not happening or found very often; uncommon.

Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.
2

adj
(of meat) Cooked only briefly, so it is still red inside.

I ordered my steak cooked rare.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not happening or found very... scarce uncommon

More dearthygeason infrequentraresomescant scantlingselcouthseldseldom sellysuperrare

Opposites

common widespread

Word family

Forms rarerrarest

Derived forms nonrarerareishrarenessrarepairraresomerarifysemiraresuperrareultrarareunrare

Related forms frequency rarefy rareness rarity

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

rare bird
a bird species that is uncommon or seldom seen in a given area

Adjective + noun
rare case
an unusual or infrequent instance of something

Adjective + noun
rare honor
a distinction that is infrequently given

Adjective + noun
fortunately rare
uncommon, which is considered a good thing

Adverb + adjective

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 replaced Middle English seld (“rare, uncommon”) (from Old English selden) and Middle English seldscene (“rare, rarely seen, infrequent”) (from Old English seldsēne).

rare Middle English rārus Latin *h₁reh₁- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Register & Style

External links

# rare

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ɹɛ/
**IPA (UK):** /ɹɛə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 2406

## Meanings
1. Not happening or found very often; uncommon.
2. (of meat) Cooked only briefly, so it is still red inside.

## Examples
- Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.
- I ordered my steak cooked rare.

## Synonyms
- dearthy
- geason
- infrequent
- raresome
- scant
- scantling
- scarce
- selcouth
- seld
- seldom
- selly
- superrare

## Antonyms
- common
- widespread

## Derived Forms
- nonrare
- rareish
- rareness
- rarepair
- raresome
- rarify
- semirare
- superrare
- ultrarare
- unrare

## Related Forms
- frequency
- rarefy
- rareness
- rarity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: rare
- Root: rārus
- Root: *h₁reh₁-

## 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 replaced Middle English seld (“rare, uncommon”) (from Old English selden) and Middle English seldscene (“rare, rarely seen, infrequent”) (from Old English seldsēne).

## AI Etymology
Rare comes 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 replaced Middle English seld (“rare, uncommon”) (from Old English selden) and Middle English seldscene (“rare, rarely seen, infrequent”) (from Old English seldsēne). Modern senses include not happening or found very often; uncommon. and (of meat) Cooked only briefly, so it is still red inside.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as nonrare, rareish, rareness, rarepair, raresome, and rarify and related forms such as frequency, rarefy, rareness, and rarity.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Register & Style

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