rare
Adjective (1)
choice, exquisite, elegant, rare, delicate, dainty mean having qualities that appeal to a cultivated taste.
choice stresses preeminence in quality or kind.
exquisite implies a perfection in workmanship or design that appeals only to very sensitive taste.
elegant applies to what is rich and luxurious but restrained by good taste.
rare suggests an uncommon excellence.
delicate implies exquisiteness, subtlety, and fragility.
dainty sometimes carries an additional suggestion of smallness and of appeal to the eye or palate.
infrequent, uncommon, scarce, rare, sporadic mean not common or abundant.
infrequent implies occurrence at wide intervals in space or time.
uncommon suggests a frequency below normal expectation.
scarce implies falling short of a standard or required abundance.
rare suggests extreme scarcity or infrequency and often implies consequent high value.
sporadic implies occurrence in scattered instances or isolated outbursts.
Middle English, from Latin rarus
Adjective (2)
alteration of earlier rere, from Middle English, from Old English hrēre boiled lightly; akin to Old English hrēran to stir, Old High German hruoren
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3
1784, in the meaning defined above
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