rare meaning and definition

RARE adjective

Definition of rare (adjective)

1. not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness
   • "a rare word"; "rare books"
2. recurring only at long intervals
   • "a rare appearance"; "total eclipses are rare events"
3. not widely distributed
   • "rare herbs"; "rare patches of green in the desert"
4. having low density
   • "rare gasses"; "lightheaded from the rarefied mountain air"
   • synonyms: rarefied, rarified
5. marked by an uncommon quality; especially superlative or extreme of its kind
   • "what is so rare as a day in June"-J.R.Lowell; "a rare skill"; "an uncommon sense of humor"; "she was kind to an uncommon degree"
   • synonyms: uncommon
6. (of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside
   • "rare roast beef"