rarefied

adjective

rar·​e·​fied ˈrer-ə-ˌfīd 

variants or less commonly rarified

1

: being less dense

2

: of, relating to, or interesting to a select group : esoteric

3

: very high

Did you know?

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

It's difficult to breathe in the rarefied air near the mountain's peak.

Recent Examples on the Web

At the most rarefied level of Swiss watchmaking, however, where gifted individuals work alone or with only an assistant or two to craft timepieces largely by hand, questions about foreign manufacturing may be moot. —Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 17 Feb. 2025

Kirby found some rarefied air against Batavia, putting together a stellar 31-point effort as the Vikings topped the archrival Bulldogs 68-44 to remain undefeated in the DuKane Conference. —Paul Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2025

Jackie Brown Even among the greatest filmmakers, Tarantino occupies rarefied air as a director and screenwriter. —Paul Fitzgerald, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2025

The best apartments in the most rarefied buildings are no exception: John Thain, the former Merrill Lynch executive, bought a penthouse at 740 Park for $27.5 million in 2006. —Kim Velsey, Curbed, 9 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!