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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
Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
That sad scenario is also a perfect opportunity to refloat an idea that needs to emerge in the rarefied Capitol air.
—Andy Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
Satellites don't spend much time passing through this rarefied region, and most of them are already dead and in the process of being disintegrated by the friction of the thin air against their hulls.
—Kiona N. Smith, Space.com, 4 Jan. 2026
Arch just entered rarefied air.
—Cedric Golden, Austin American Statesman, 2 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Rarefied.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rarefied. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.
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