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

The scene exemplifies the rarefied aestheticism with which Anderson brings the turbulent and grand-scale drama to the screen. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2025

To that end, the rarefied model is based off the 992-generation 911 GT3 R racer, the latter developed to compete in GT3-series competition, including its category in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. —Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 6 Oct. 2025

Of course, the reason Tranter is in that rarefied class is his knack for delivering hits. —Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 1 Oct. 2025

The studio has occupied a rarefied space, inspiring fierce loyalty from independent-film devotees. —Zach Schonfeld, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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