| English Dictionary |
RARE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does rare mean?
• RARE (adjective)
The adjective RARE has 6 senses:
1. not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness
2. recurring only at long intervals
3. not widely distributed
4. having low density
5. marked by an uncommon quality; especially superlative or extreme of its kind
6. (of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside
Familiarity information: RARE used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: rarest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness
Context example:
rare books
Similar:
uncommon (not common or ordinarily encountered; unusually great in amount or remarkable in character or kind)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Recurring only at long intervals
Context example:
total eclipses are rare events
Similar:
infrequent (not frequent; not occurring regularly or at short intervals)
Derivation:
rareness (noteworthy scarcity)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not widely distributed
Context example:
rare patches of green in the desert
Similar:
scarce (deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand)
Derivation:
rareness; rarity (noteworthy scarcity)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Having low density
Synonyms:
Context example:
lightheaded from the rarefied mountain air
Similar:
thin (relatively thin in consistency or low in density; not viscous)
Derivation:
rarity (a rarified quality)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Marked by an uncommon quality; especially superlative or extreme of its kind
Synonyms:
rare; uncommon
Context example:
she was kind to an uncommon degree
Similar:
extraordinary (beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable)
Derivation:
rarity (something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting)
Sense 6
Meaning:
(of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside
Context example:
rare roast beef
Similar:
raw (not treated with heat to prepare it for eating)
Context examples
A rare melanoma which develops in a pre-existing blue nevus.
(Melanoma Arising from Blue Nevus, NCI Thesaurus)
No, a woman’s, and a woman of rare character.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A rare disorder which affects the volar surfaces of fingers.
(Achenbach Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)
A rare infantile hemangioma in the airway, usually in the subglottic area or trachea.
(Airway Hemangioma, NCI Thesaurus)
To uncover this rare black hole trifecta, researchers needed to combine data from telescopes both on the ground and in space.
(Three Black Holes on Collision Course, NASA)
Mutations in SETD1A have primarily been found in people with schizophrenia, suggesting that this rare gene variation might hold important clues to the underlying disease process.
(Schizophrenia risk gene linked to cognitive deficits in mice, National Institutes of Health)
This is a rare aspect, one that shines like diamonds in the Sun.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
A rare condition characterized by diffuse spread of sarcoma cells throughout the meninges.
(Meningeal Sarcomatosis, NCI Thesaurus)
Family members who carry a rare gene mutation called Presenilin 1 (PSEN1) E280A, have a 99.9% risk of developing early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
(Unique case of disease resistance reveals possible Alzheimer’s treatment, National Institutes of Health)
A rare, highly aggressive, Epstein-Barr virus-associated leukemia, also known as aggressive NK-cell leukemia/lymphoma; it may represent the leukemic counterpart of nasal type extranodal NK/T-cell lymphomas.
(Aggressive NK-Cell Leukemia, NCI Thesaurus)
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