Rare Meaning
/ɹɛə/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjVery uncommon; scarce.
adjSmall in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse.
Sentence Examples
It is not rare at all to live over ninety years.
It is not rare for girls today to talk as if they were boys.
There are only eleven of these rare animals left.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
Because of the very hot climate, snow is ____ in this tropical region.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The museum displayed a ____ manuscript that had survived five centuries in remarkable condition.
Word Origin & History
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
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
"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."
— 2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Technology: Augmentations Codex entry:
"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)."
— 2016 March, Amanda M McLemore et al., “Suicide by Bomb, with Decapitation”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
"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."
— 2025 January-February, Caterina Fede et al., “The Human Superficial Fascia: A Narrative Review”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
"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."
— 1995, George Baxter, Larry W. Smith, Mastering Magic Cards, page 116:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Because of the very hot climate, snow is ____ in this tropical region.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The museum displayed a ____ manuscript that had survived five centuries in remarkable condition.