Words / R / General

rarefied

adjective/ˈreərɪfaɪd/

C2CEFR level
65/100Rarity: rare
FormalRegister

Belonging to an exclusive, elevated, or highly refined sphere.

The rarefied world of the salon prized beauty above all more useful things.

Similar: elevated, exclusive

Origin: From Latin rarus 'thin, rare' and facere 'to make'.

Topic: aesthetics in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

Get words like rarefied on your lock screen, a few a day, with review that makes them stick.

Download on the App Store Lexfall puts a new word on your home and lock screen through widgets, so you learn without opening an app. Free to download. After a free trial, a subscription unlocks every field. Built for iPhone, iOS 15.1 or later.
QR code that opens Lexfall on the App Store
On a computer?Scan with your iPhone camera.

More general words: aesthetics