few and far between

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

few and far between

Where it comes from

Attested at least since the 17th century. Was originally reserved for physical objects, such as houses, appearing with wide gaps between, but today it is also applied to more abstract things. Being rare also implies that the average gaps between the objects are wide.

adjective fewer and further between · fewer and farther between · fewest and furthest between · fewest and farthest between

idiomatic Rare and scarce; hard to find. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule, and I have met several lamas, notably the Phodong Lama of Sikhim and others like him, men who were thoroughly capable, who acted up to their principles, and whom I thoroughly respected, but I am sorry to say such men were few and far between.
Similar: thin on the ground, deficient, in short supply, wanting, lacking, uncommon, rare, dearthy, few and far between, geason, infrequent, non-common · Opposite: far and wide, thick on the ground, common, widespread, abundant, ubiquitous

Translations

Every language

adj rare and scarce

中文	少之又少 shǎozhīyòushǎo, 鳳毛麟角 /凤毛麟角 fèngmáo línjiǎo

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"few and far between." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/few%20and%20far%20between. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

few and far between. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/few%20and%20far%20between

Chicago

"few and far between." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/few%20and%20far%20between.

BibTeX

@misc{few_and_far_between_2026,
  title = {few and far between},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/few%20and%20far%20between},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}