Rare

/ɹɛ/ · adjective

Meaning

Very uncommon; scarce..

Definitions by Sense

1. Very uncommon; scarce.
2. (medicine, pathology) Small in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse.
3. (of a gas) Thin; of low density.
4. (UK, slang) Good; enjoyable.
5. (US, slang) Cool; excellent.
6. (gaming) A scarce or uncommon item.
7. (cooking) Particularly of meat, especially beefsteak: cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red.
8. (US, intransitive) To rear, rise up, start backwards.

Example Sentences

Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.

Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.

While many material components in Andromeda are familiar, we have also discovered rarer and more valuable materials; attributable to exposure to the Scourge, or mysterious alien technology.

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 chest and upper extremities. The lower extremities demonstrated rare abrasions and contusions as well as severe lacerations of the anteromedial knees with underlying fractures of the distal aspects of the femora (Image 4).

Moreover, the SF [Superficial fascia] splits to surround vessels and nerves, ensuring their patency, and forms the so-called retinacula cutis, which has the function of connecting the SF to the skin (retinacula cutis superficialis, or skin ligaments) and to the deep fascia (retinacula cutis profundis), to provide a dynamic and flexible anchor of the skin to underlying tissues [16,20]. The deep septa are rare, thin, and oblique and have an apparent lesser organization, allowing great autonomy between superficial and deep fascia.

Sees her reflection in a butcher shop. She finds it all quite rare That her meat's all vanity fair.

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.

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.

Synonyms for rare

Antonyms for rare

Related Words

Word Forms

• rarer
• rarest
• rares
• more rare
• most rare
• reer
• rere
• raring
• rared

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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