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had rather

Idioms

Also, had sooner. Would prefer. For example, I had rather you let me do the driving, or He'd sooner switch than fight. This idiom today is often replaced by would rather. [Late 1500s] Also see just as soon.

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.

And this was one they had rather seen coming.

From BBC • Feb. 27, 2026

As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it in 1860: “Men had rather be deceived than not; witness the secure road to riches of Barnum and the quacks.”

From Salon • Dec. 19, 2023

By the time he was fully committed to his career, “I had rather lost interest, as far as pursuing a Ph.D. or teaching or going into the corporate world,” he said.

From New York Times • Jul. 7, 2022

The other first-rounders all had rather pedestrian debuts, too.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 16, 2020

People in those days had rather different ideas about the training of dogs to what we have today.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023