rarity
Americannoun
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rarities
plural
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something rare, unusual, or uncommon.
Snowstorms are a rarity in the South.
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something esteemed or interesting in being rare, uncommon, or curious.
That folio is a rarity that will bring a good price.
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the state or quality of being rare.
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rare occurrence; infrequency.
Volcanic eruptions on the island occur with great rarity.
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unusual excellence.
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thinness, as of air or a gas.
noun
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a rare person or thing, esp something interesting or valued because it is uncommon
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the state or quality of being rare
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rarity
1550–60; < Latin rāritās thinness, equivalent to rār ( us ) rare 1 + -itās -ity
Vocabulary lists containing rarity
"My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning
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"The Tempest," Vocabulary from Acts 1 and 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The reason for that rarity is a simple one: every single starting lineman this season is a returning player.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Others use fixed thresholds, historical rarity, physical damage, economic losses or emergency declarations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Their rarity and longevity make them especially valuable to researchers studying glacier retreat, changing ocean conditions and the risks posed by drifting ice in polar regions.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Right now, there’s a halo of rarity around Raising Cane’s due to its newness, which likely adds to the psychosis.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Especially since it was such a rarity to see the starry sky when you lived in a huge city like New York.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
In the 1950s and ’60s, there would be earworm TV-show themes—from “Have Gun—Will Travel,” “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,” “Rawhide”—but over the decades that followed, corral-based hits became rarities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
Of course, there is the requisite disc of rarities and B-sides.
From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2025
Known as ‘trial pieces’ or a ‘pattern coins’, such rarities are typically sought by serious collectors.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2024
Showstoppers like Donna and Viatina-19 are rarities in Brazil, which has more than 230 million cows, according to the USDA.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
We might joke about looking “kempt” or being "couth," but in fact the negatives have no opposite forms—they’re either obsolete rarities or whimsical inventions.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
