rare

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rare^¹

/ɹɛə/ UK
/ɹɛː/ British, Southern, Standard
/ɹɛɚ/ Canada, US
/ɹɛɹ/ Canada, US
/ɹeː/ Australia
/ɹeə/ New Zealand
/ɹiə/
/ɾeɾ/ Scotland
[ɾeːɾ] Scotland
[ɹɝ] Ireland
/ɹɜː(ɹ)/
/ɹɛ/ Multicultural London English

Sounds like rear (cheer–chair merger) · Rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

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

hence modern English seld

adjective rarer · rarest

Very uncommon; scarce. Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.
Similar: scarce, selcouth, seld, selly, geason, uncommon · Opposite: common, frequent, average, basic, bog-standard, common as bums, common as dirt, common as muck, common as pig tracks, dime a dozen, everyday, general
Small in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse. The anterior and posterior skin of the upper chest and shoulders demonstrated irregularly jagged borders with areas of soot and charring focally. The soft and bony tissues underlying the borders were markedly damaged by presumed explosive injuries. There were rare abrasions and contusions of the che
of a gas Thin; of low density.
UK, slang Good; enjoyable. Sees her reflection in a butcher shop. She finds it all quite rare That her meat's all vanity fair.
US, slang Cool; excellent. I whistled for a cab and when it came near / The license plate said ‘fresh’ and it had dice in the mirror. / If anything I could say that this cab was rare.

noun rares

A scarce or uncommon item. Most of the time, you do this by trading low-valued rares for more valuable ones or trading uncommons for rares. Other times it's trading cards that are in print for ones that are out of print, or low-value rares for good uncommons.

rare^²

/ɹɛə/ UK
/ɹɛː/ British, Southern, Standard
/ɹɛɚ/ Canada, US
/ɹɛɹ/ Canada, US
/ɹeː/ Australia
/ɹeə/ New Zealand
/ɹiə/
/ɾeɾ/ Scotland
[ɾeːɾ] Scotland
[ɹɝ] Ireland
/ɹɜː(ɹ)/
/ɹɛ/ Multicultural London English

Sounds like rear (cheer–chair merger) · Rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From a dialectal variant of rear, from Middle English rere, from Old English hrēr, hrēre (“not thoroughly cooked, underdone, lightly boiled”), from hrēran (“to move, shake, agitate”), from Proto-Germanic *hrōzijaną (“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱroHs- (“to mix, stir, cook”). Related to Old English hrōr (“stirring, busy, active, strong, brave”). More at rear.

adjective rarer · more rare · rarest · most rare · reer · rere

Particularly of meat, especially beefsteak: cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red. Then Curds and Cream, the Flow'r of Country Fare, / And new-laid Eggs, which Baucis’ buſie Care / Turn’d by a gentle Fire, and roaſted rare.
Opposite: well done

rare^³

/ɹɛə/ UK
/ɹɛː/ British, Southern, Standard
/ɹɛɚ/ Canada, US
/ɹɛɹ/ Canada, US
/ɹeː/ Australia
/ɹeə/ New Zealand
/ɹiə/
/ɾeɾ/ Scotland
[ɾeːɾ] Scotland
[ɹɝ] Ireland
/ɹɜː(ɹ)/
/ɹɛ/ Multicultural London English

Sounds like rear (cheer–chair merger) · Rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Variant of rear.

verb rares · raring · rared

US, intransitive To rear, rise up, start backwards. Frank pretended to rare back as if bedazzled, shielding his eyes with a forearm.
US, transitive 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.

rare^⁴

/ɹɛə/ UK
/ɹɛː/ British, Southern, Standard
/ɹɛɚ/ Canada, US
/ɹɛɹ/ Canada, US
/ɹeː/ Australia
/ɹeə/ New Zealand
/ɹiə/
/ɾeɾ/ Scotland
[ɾeːɾ] Scotland
[ɹɝ] Ireland
/ɹɜː(ɹ)/
/ɹɛ/ Multicultural London English

Sounds like rear (cheer–chair merger) · Rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Compare rather, rath.

adjective more rare · most rare

obsolete Early. The men, that sway / In work of those tools that so fit our state, / Are rude mechanicals, that rare and late / Work in the market-place;

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: infrequent, uncommon, extraordinary, rarefied, scarce, rarified, thin, raw, rarity, unique, singular, sporadic, seldom, infrequently, rarely, exotic

adjective

Translations

Every language

adj very uncommon

Español	raro, insólito, ralo, muy incomún
한국어	드물다 deumulda, 희귀(稀貴)하다 huigwihada
日本語	珍しい mezurashii, 稀な
中文	稀少 xīshǎo, 稀疏 xīshū, 稀有 xīyǒu, 罕見 /罕见 hǎnjiàn
हिन्दी	विरल viral, दुर्लभ durlabh, नायाब nāyāb, नादिर nādir, कमयाब kamyāb, अप्राप्य aprāpya
Português	raro
Français	rare, peu commun
Deutsch	selten, rar
Italiano	raro
Ελληνικά	σπάνιος spánios
Română	rar
Русский	ре́дкий rédkij
Tiếng Việt	hiếm
العربية	نَادِر nādir
עברית	נדיר nadir

adj thin density gas

Español	ralo
한국어	희박(稀薄)하다 huibakhada
Português	rarefeito
Deutsch	verdünnt
Română	rarefiat
Русский	разрежённый razrežónnyj

adj cooked very lightly

Español	crudo, poco hecho, jugoso
日本語	レア rea
中文	一分熟 yīfēnshú
Português	malpassado
Français	saignant
Deutsch	blutig, englisch
Italiano	al sangue
Română	în sânge
Русский	непрожа́ренный neprožárennyj, с кро́вью s króvʹju, крова́вый krovávyj, кровяни́стый krovjanístyj
עברית	נא ná, נִמְרָשׁ nimrásh

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Cite this

MLA

"rare." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rare. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rare. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rare

Chicago

"rare." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rare.

BibTeX

@misc{rare_2026,
  title = {rare},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rare},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}

rare

AI In plain words

rare¹

Where it comes from

adjective rarer · rarest

noun rares

rare²

Where it comes from

adjective rarer · more rare · rarest · most rare · reer · rere

rare³

Where it comes from

verb rares · raring · rared

rare⁴

Where it comes from

adjective more rare · most rare

Thesaurus

Translations

adj very uncommon

adj thin density gas

adj cooked very lightly

rare^¹

rare^²

rare^³

rare^⁴