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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
Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
On Thursday, the rarefied bag was sold by auction house Sotheby’s in an online sale of notable luxury fashion, including designs by Alexander McQueen and Christian Dior.
—Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 10 July 2025
Los Angeles Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw reached rarefied air on Wednesday night, becoming the 20th player ever to reach 3,000 strikeouts for his career.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 3 July 2025
The governor’s announcement Thursday puts him in a position to be in rarefied air in the world of Illinois politics.
—Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for rarefied
Cite this Entry
“Rarefied.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rarefied. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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