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

One analysis projects the coming wave could mint more than 16,000 new millionaires and roughly 20 billionaires—a wealth-creation event already beginning to ripple through the world’s most rarefied property markets. — Natalie Hoberman, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026

So a lot of attention and energy around entering the public sphere, not just living in the rarefied bubble of museums and galleries and that world. — Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 31 July 2026

Even at ground level this is rarefied air, let alone at 35,000 feet. — James Horncastle, New York Times, 30 July 2026

But the two looks that stand out the most were dresses that Roach pulled straight from the couture shows in Paris—rarefied, one-of-a-kind gowns that few people ever get to see out in the world, let alone on an A-list celebrity. — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 20 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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