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In the upper reaches of Chomolungma, known more familiarly as Mount Everest, the air is so rarefied—so much less dense than at lower elevations—that most climbers use supplemental oxygen in order to successfully complete their climb. This sense of rarefied, a word that comes from a combination of the Latin words rarus (“thin” or “rare”) and facere (“to make”), has been in use since the 1500s. A second, figurative sense of rarefied developed in the following century to describe things that can only be understood by a small or select group, i.e. one “thinned” from the majority of people by dint of their unique experience, expertise, or status. It’s this sense that we use when we say that to successfully summit Chomolungma puts one in rarefied company—just over 6,000 people have made it to the top at the time of this writing.
Examples of rarefied in a Sentence
The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
The 600 plateau is rarefied air, with Burrow and second place Jared Goff of the Lions (622.45) marking only the 12th and 13th times 600 has been reached.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 6 Jan. 2025
That is the rarefied air Palmer now inhabits — not just at Stamford Bridge where the adulation is audible on a weekly basis, but increasingly in terms of his broader standing within the game.
—Liam Twomey, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
With a distinct warmth, the space provides a portal into the rarefied world of equestrianism refracted through a nostalgic, tactile lens.
—Essence, 23 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Rarefied.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rarefied. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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