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

But 18 seasons is rarefied air. —Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026

For travelers drawn to the romance and ease of a voyage at sea but allergic to the thought of a giant cruise ship, there’s now a more rarefied option. —Elycia Rubin, HollywoodReporter, 24 Mar. 2026

The privilege is pressure, pressure is a privilege and the possibility of making such rarefied history, with folks at FanGraphs giving the Dodgers 27% odds to win this World Series, is anything but automatic. —Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2026

Carolyn and Anthony’s moment is moving — there’s an easy intimacy between them that lends some life to the rarefied, corseted vibes of the party. —Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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